Fury Saga              by: Darkside        © 2000

Soul Mates

Part 8c

Alex was waiting by the phone in his Cambridge hotel room. Kat was only six hours away and Cathline would be here in the morning. There had been no news from the kidnappers at all, which had surprised the police as usually demands are made as soon as the kidnap is made known. He had tried to remain strong for Kat, but inside he was desperately worried. He and Elizabeth had grown so close over the months they had been together. How cruel would it be for their love to be denied? Frustration was starting to creep in, he felt powerless and at the mercy of the fates. There was nothing he could do except wait and pray. He’d tried watching TV but every cop show or drama only served to rub salt in the wounds. The comedies he couldn’t laugh at and even the Kweepa and Rooney movie on pay per view seemed puerile and pointless. Frustrated and bored he lay back on the bed and thought back to the fun times he and Elizabeth had had. The first date was one of the most memorable. It was as near perfection as he could have imagined. It was, however, the day he had asked her to marry him, which stuck in his mind. It hadn’t been a grandiose affair. He had proposed to her over a simple meal at his house; he wanted the moment to be a special one and not contaminated with fancy meals or venues. She had taken one look at the ring, a simple diamond and gold affair, and said "You really expect me to marry you after the lifetime of grief you caused me?"

His heart had sunk at the sound of this. He had blown it. A laugh from the other side of the table made him look up. Elizabeth had placed the ring on her finger and was inspecting how it looked on her hand. She smiled. "Alex, Yes I will marry you," and they had embraced, both wishing that moment would never end.

There was a sharp knock on the door and Alex swung his legs out of the bed and answered it. Inspector Jones stood there and was accompanied by another police officer. "Hi Inspector. Any news?"

"Can I come in?" Inspector Jones said. He pushed his glasses back onto his nose as if trying to avoid saying something.

"Sure. What’s going on?

Inspector Jones turned to his fellow officer and said "Bob put the kettle on for us please. Mr Richards, please take a seat."

Alex’s desire for news turned to apprehension. Inspector Jones didn’t look at all happy to be there. It was as if he had to perform the worst job in the world but Alex sat down as instructed.

"Inspector what in hell has happened?" Alex demanded.

"Elizabeth’s been found. She was in a farm house in Yorkshire," inspector Jones started to say.

"That’s great! Is she ok?" Alex interrupted.

"I’m afraid not. She was shot in the chest at close range during a struggle with her kidnapper. It looks as though she was shot trying to escape. We have the kidnapper in custody."

"How bad is it?" Alex asked. He hardly dare ask but he had to find out.

"Very nearly as bad as it can be. She’s in St Lukes hospital Huddersfield. She’s in a critical condition with severe damage to her heart, lungs and she was bleeding internally. At the moment the only thing that’s keeping her technically alive are the machines. That’s all I know. We have a car waiting for you if you’d like to go there. It’ll take a few hours but the doctors don’t expect much change in her condition. I’m sorry Alex, I really am."

Alex sat there stunned. The woman he loved, the woman he was going to marry and his ‘soul mate,’ was virtually dead. Elizabeth’s life hung by the slenderest of threads and he was powerless to do anything about it. "Do Matthew and Kat know?" Alex managed to say.

"We called them before we came here. Matthew’s on his way here now but it will be a number of hours before he gets there. I would suggest you try and get some sleep in the car."

Alex nodded and took the cup of strong sweet tea that the other police officer had just made him. He took a sip and swallowed the warm, sweet liquid. He knew the real motive behind the drink; they were treating him for shock. Putting down the cup of tea on a nearby table he collected a few things and put them in his bag. He wouldn’t bother to check out. He’d settle the bill by PDA later on. He was escorted outside and got into the white and yellow striped Rover-Proton police car. He suddenly felt very tired and was soon fast asleep.

o—o—o—

From her vantage point above the farm house Anne had watched the ambulance take Elizabeth’s body away, closely followed by a still unconscious Angela. Police had stormed into the house and soon made it difficult for Anne to stay around and watch. She had sprinted the kilometer back to her car and had deduced they would take Elizabeth to the best and closest ER possible. It took her about twenty minutes to drive into Huddersfield and she tried a couple of hospitals there before locating St Lukes.

She shifted form into a five foot five brunette and quickly located the laundry room. No matter where she went all hospitals were the same. From Adelaide General where she’d lain comatose and near to death to her fathers hospital the layout, atmosphere and attitude was all the same. She quickly found a clean nurse’s uniform, and checking that the coast was clear she put it on. She would ask Heinlein for a valid ID later on but for now the uniform would do, as in her experience most people didn’t even check for a badge. In an overworked hospital who’d notice an extra nurse?

She quickly located the intensive care room and slipped inside. Looking at the array of equipment, she was impressed. She had expected to find older less effective hardware, but this looked brand new. She checked each bed in turn and saw Elizabeth lying in one, in a side room. Her skin had a pallor of death and the monitors showed that she was barely alive. Anne touched a few of the displays in order to get more information. Given the circumstances, Elizabeth’s condition was as good as she could have hoped for. The monitors showed that her heart had ceased working on it’s own an hour ago and was now being artificially stimulated by the machines. Both her lungs had failed and she was now on artificial ventilation. Brain activity was almost zero, it was borderline as to whether Elizabeth was technically alive or not. When they got there Matthew and Kat would need to decide whether to turn the machines off or not. It was not a decision she would want to make herself, but she had done so when she had shot her. She now wished there had been any other way, but the way she had chosen had been the only one left open to her.

Anne walked over to a series of X-rays and scans pinned to the wall over Elizabeth’s bed. To her relief it looked as though she had hit exactly where she had intended. Using her changeling organ she could manufacture and inject Elizabeth with a serum that would gradually repair the wounds, as she had done years ago with Detective Tina Cox but Elizabeth probably wasn’t strong enough to cope with even the smallest dose. For the moment, it was now down to Elizabeth to cling onto the tiny fragment of life that remained in her.

"Can I help you?" A deep voice sounded from behind her.

Anne whirled round to see a tall man with glasses and thinning hair. "Sorry?"

"Can I help you? I don’t recognize you. What are you doing here?" The doctor asked.

Anne used the response she had prepared for such eventualities, "You were a few nurses short for the night shift so they asked me to transfer from the Royal for tonight. She’s a very ill young lady isn’t she?" Anne said, nodding towards the inert Elizabeth.

The doctor gave Anne a suspicious look "She wouldn’t be here if she wasn’t!"

Anne decided to ignore the barbed comment, "I’ve seen the readouts. How much can she support herself? Is it just the machines?"

The doctor nodded sadly. "Apart from the barest flicker of brain activity it’s the machines. She’s in a deep coma and in my opinion is likely to remain that way."

Anne wasn’t so sure about this doctor’s opinion. "I’m surprised the gunshot wasn’t fatal."

"It effectively was. It was a hell of a shot though. It went into the chest cavity splintering a rib. The bullet then passed thru her left lung puncturing it before coming to a stop just before her spinal cord. A centimeter further on and she would be paralyzed, not that it matters much now."

Anne knew the answer before she asked but she needed to gain the doctor’s confidence, "So how come there’s so much internal damage?"

"The rib shattered, sending bone fragments into her other lung, superior Vena Cava and supraventricula crest. We’ve managed to patch her up by microsurgery but there was too much damage to do anything else. It’s down to her parents now. It’s their call."

Anne nodded "Thanks Doctor. What do you want me to do?"

"There’s a patient in the second IC ward, change the biofilter for us."

"OK," Anne replied. Although things had gone as well as she could have hoped for, for Elizabeth’s sake she wished she knew Kat better.. She was tempted to come back when they arrived but she needed to report back to Heinlein. She would stick around for a few days to make sure things were progressing as she wanted them to. Besides, she needed to pay a visit to Angela.

o—o—o—

A few hours later Kat came running into the intensive care ward. Alex had fallen asleep next to Elizabeth, his hand was still holding tightly onto hers. The array of tubes and machinery around Elizabeth scared Kat but it was Elizabeth’s ashen gray appearance that caused her the most concern.

"Mrs Stephens," a voice said from behind her.

Kat turned around, her eyes streaked with tears. "Yes, doctor."

"Please come with me," the doctor replied.

"What about Alex and Elizabeth? I can’t leave them," Kat pleaded.

"There’s nothing you can do for her and he needs his sleep. He’s been here for hours talking and holding her hand. Please, Miss Stephens, follow me."

Kat was led into a side room, and sat down on one of the plastic chairs in the room.

"What have you been told?" the doctor asked.

Kat, still numb with shock and worry answered as best she could "That Elizabeth is extremely ill and the it’s the machines that are keeping her alive."

The doctor nodded. He hated this part of his job most off all. Especially when they were young and had a whole life in front of them, "It’s not the time just yet, but we need to think long term about Elizabeth, what’s best for her. There comes a point, which we are not yet at, when it becomes pointless to prolong her life any longer. We can keep her heart beating, her lungs working and the rest of her body functioning indefinitely but there is very, very little brain activity. It’s being fed oxygen and as far as we can tell there is no physical damage but we are facing the very real probability that she may never recover from her coma. Sometimes the body just shuts everything down and forgets to come back again. From where I’m standing and based on years of experience, it looks to me as she will never come back to us. The injuries and blood loss are just far too great."

Kat tried her best not to cry. Elizabeth would tell her not to be so silly; to be strong for her, Matthew and Alex. But Kat couldn’t help but feel deep despair. Wiping away a tear from her eye she asked "What are you saying doctor?"

I’m saying that you need to start thinking about how long you are prepared to wait before we switch everything off and let Elizabeth die peacefully and without pain. It’s a choice we need to make together based on her condition. All I’m asking is that you and your husband give it some thought."

"I can tell you right now. I forbid you to switch off those machines! Not now, not ever!" Kat snapped.

The doctor nodded. "Ok, but every day she lies there she is using resources that other people desperately need. She’s too ill to move or be unplugged. Sometimes it’s better just to let go." The doctor put a comforting hand on Kat’s.

Kat looked up and wished that Matthew were here.

o—o—o—

Anne had called Heinlein in her car and told him what had happened. She was now in a bitter argument with him over her failing to kill Elizabeth outright.

"The fact remains that you were ordered to kill her if she failed the test. I’ve got another team on standby. They’ll do the job you failed to do. In all our years of working together you never fucked up this badly. You did this on purpose!" Heinlein shouted down the phone.

"Too right I did it on purpose! I needed to give Kat, Matthew and the rest of the family time to say goodbye. I never got the chance with my parents and I’m dammed if I’m going to put them through what I went thru. You’ve seen the medical reports. She’s not going to wake up, and in a month’s time, after they’ve said their good-byes, they’ll switch off the machines and let her die in peace with her family all around her. Isn’t that so much better than leaving a dead body in an old farmhouse with a bullet thru the skull?"

There was a pause as if Heinlein was considering all the options. Anne knew he was consulting the medical report in front of him. "Ok, I’ll call them off."

"When can I expect my hospital ID?" Anne asked

"You’ll get it tomorrow morning. Dr Anne Williams, just transferred from Addenbrooke’s this week right?"

"Yep."

"One more thing," Heinlein demanded.

Anne was getting well and truly pissed off with being ordered around. Especially when those orders involved her shooting her own daughter, "What!" she said sarcastically.

"What the fuck did you do to the cult leader? It took my clear up team three hours to sort the mess out. Consider yourself warned on that one. Also, if you pull a stunt like you did with that gang a few days ago I won’t be able to bail you out. It took a hell of a lot to persuade the police to drop the case. As of now you kill anyone again and I won’t be there to get you off."

"I’m not planning to, unless it’s in self defense," Anne snapped.

"Screw self defense! There are other ways apart from decapitation, dismembering and disemboweling!" Heinlein snapped. The police had demanded to know what creature had killed those gang members, and he had had to use all of his persuasiveness to get them to drop the case.

"That’s not what you said when you made me assassinate Ambassador Putin is it? What was it? Use whatever force you must," Anne snapped back. She had hated assassination missions.

"Just don’t do it again," Heinlein said as firmly as he could.

"Fine! Oh, and Heinlein?" Anne said.

"Don’t call me a bastard yet again," Heinlein replied. "That joke’s wearing a little thin."

"I’m not. I’m just going to say that if you ever call me again, if you send in your goons to kill Elizabeth off before Kat and Matthew allow it, I’ll come after you. You know there’s nothing that can stop me if I put my mind to it. If I do have to come and get you then what I did to the Bexley cult leader will be like the Disney matinee version. Capiche?" Anne’s voice was a deathly whisper.

"Don’t you threaten me, freak!" was Heinlein’s agitated reply.

"It’s not a threat, it’s an absolute certainty. Goodbye!" Anne disconnected the call. She would drive to a hotel and book herself in. She needed to stay close by for a while.

She sat back in the car seat and allowed herself to cry. Why hadn’t she thought that Elizabeth would be in danger earlier? Why hadn’t she dealt with the Bexley cult earlier? Did she have any choice but to shoot Elizabeth? A thousand questions bombarded her. What if she’d met Elizabeth sooner? What if she had let Deianeria live? What if she had killed Angela? Would Mark want her back? Did she even want to go back to him? These and many more questions flooded her mind and threatened to overcome her with guilt. She found tears helped relieve the pressure a little. She had made the choices she had made, and that was the end of it. There was nothing she could do to change things now. All she could do now was watch and wait.

o—o—o—

Kat awoke in a hotel room not remembering how she got there. The clock on the table said 8:16am. She had slept almost ten hours! Matthew would be here in an hour or so. Cathline too. She needed them more now than ever before. In some ways it was easier when they were in danger. She knew they could help themselves. But this? She felt so helpless and shocked. How could Elizabeth be effectively dead? They had escaped from the Guild civil war, survived an explosion of a laboratory, being shot, having cancer and numerous other hardships, and now this. It didn’t seem fair. Elizabeth had had her whole life in front of her. They had been planning the wedding only a few days before and now she would be thinking about funeral arrangements.

Kat had to admit the doctor had a point. They couldn’t keep Elizabeth on the machines forever. Sooner or later they would have to switch them off. She felt tears well up in her eyes again. Elizabeth was so young. Where had the time gone? It only seemed like yesterday that Elizabeth too her first steps, tottering along the furniture before launching out into the middle of the room. She remembered Matthew playing chase with her, of them flying a kite for the first time. More tears flowed as she remembered Elizabeth at a precocious five telling the world she knew everything there was to know. Her teaching Elizabeth to swim in the pool, of making clay bugs on the table. The pride she had felt as a parent when Elizabeth had aced her exams allowing her to enter medical school, and more recently the sheer rightness of her engagement to Alex. That relationship so much reminded her of hers and Matthews, and now it had been cut tragically short.

Alex walked into her room, carrying a tray with a pot of coffee and some croissants on it. "Hi Kat. I thought you might like some breakfast."

Seeing Alex brought fresh tears to her face. He looked older, more worn out than she had ever seen him. His normal fun loving self had gone, replaced by this husk of a man. "Thank you Alex." She said softly, taking the tray from him.

"I booked us into a hotel. You’d fallen asleep beside her when I awoke. I figured we needed our rest so I took us back here. Hope you don’t mind," Alex said.

Kat put the tray to one side and gave Alex a deep embrace "Oh Alex, I’m so sorry," she cried.

Alex returned the hug and sat down, fresh tears in his eyes. "She looked so ill when I came. She looked dead already. I spent hours just holding her hands and talking to her. I prayed to any god that would listen that they would take me instead. I tried to make her better by force of will. I would take her place in a moment if I thought I could."

Kat gave a tearful nod. "I would too."

"But God or whoever didn’t listen. They say she’s already dead. How can that be, Kat? I love her. People say that love is the strongest force in the world, but that’s not true is it? If it were, I could love her back to life, and then we could get on with our lives. I just wish it were me there, that’s all."

Kat gave a sob. She had wished the same thing again and again. She wanted to say something, but couldn’t find the right words. She held Alex’s hand and embraced him once more.

"Y’know Kat. They said they were going to ask you about keeping her alive, well, keeping the machines running that is. I need to know what you told them. Please Kat, I love her so much," Alex said tearfully.

"I told them to go to hell. But if the time comes, we’ll make the decision together, you, Matthew and me. In the meantime, we spend every hour we can being with her, being there for her, and telling her how much we want her back." Kat tried to sound hopeful even if she didn’t feel it herself.

"Come on, your coffee’s getting cold. Let’s watch some TV," Alex said handing Kat the tray.

"TV on," Kat said picking up a warm croissant and handing it to Alex.

The picture on the wall faded from view and was replaced by a TV picture.

"DNA tests and brain scans have confirmed allegations that Elizabeth Stephens is not the real daughter of Matthew and Jane Stephens but is a direct clone of the late Dr Elizabeth Bexley. This dramatic new evidence came to light yesterday hours before Elizabeth Stephens was found gravely injured in a Yorkshire farmhouse. Her situation is described as beyond critical."

"TV OFF!" Kat screamed.

Alex was staring at Kat in hurt and pain. He put his croissant on the bed and stormed out. Kat held her head in her hands and sobbed. Surely things couldn’t get any worse.

o—o—o—

As Mathew walked from the taxi to the hotel reporters mobbed him. They huddled around him, trying to get that sound bite quote from him that would make the evening news. Questions were thrust at him from all directions

"What do you say about the new evidence that’s come to light regarding your daughter?"

"What is Elizabeth’s condition? Is she still alive?"

"Why didn’t you tell the world this before?"

"What about the previous evidence indicating the opposite. Who fabricated that?"

"If Elizabeth recovers what does this mean for her and her fiancée? Does this mean she IS Dr Bexley or just shares her DNA?"

"Did you know the kidnapper? We understand she was Elizabeth’s room mate—can you confirm this?"

Matthew was about to answer ‘No comment’ but anger overtook him. "Look why don’t you all just fuck off! My daughter is essentially dead, only the machines are keeping her alive, and all you wonder about is something as pointless as this. I’ve been on a fourteen hour flight, and I need to see my family, so fuck off," Matthew swore and stormed inside.

o—o—o—

Matthew put his finger on the biometric fingerprint reader on the hotel room door and opened the door. Kat was lying on the sofa gently crying. She heard him walk in and got up. On seeing Matthew she ran towards him and gave him a comforting embrace. "I’m so glad you’re here," she cried.

"Me too. How is she? Have you heard? Somebody’s leaked out all about Elizabeth. The press was swarming all over me outside. Where’s Alex?"

"Elizabeth is the same as she was. I switched on the TV when Alex was here. We heard then. He glared at me and then stormed out. I’ve not seen him since," Kat said sadly.

"That’s all we need. We’ll leave Alex to Cathline. We have enough troubles of our own. She called me from her car. She’ll be here in an hour or so."

Kat snuggled up to Matthew "Last night was one of the worst of my life. The doctor wanted us to think about switching the machines off. They’ll soon need the resources and space for people they can save."

Tears formed in Matthew’s eyes and he put his head on Kat’s shoulder. "Meaning, there’s no hope for her."

Kat snuggled in closer "There’s always hope Matthew, there has to be."

o—o—o—

Anne pinned her new ID badge on her shirt and walked back into the hospital. She was wearing her new body, that of Dr Anne Williams, a divorced forty five year old with mousy brown hair and a normal looking but educated face. She was tempted to waltz in as the stunning new doctor, but she wanted to keep a low profile. Consulting the hospital layout on the wall she quickly found the secure unit where she knew Angela was about to moved from. It took her a few minutes to walk there along the long corridors, and eventually she turned into a side corridor and straight into two police officers. "Can we help you doctor?" they demanded.

In her best timid but dutiful voice Anne said, "I’m here to see Miss Holden. She due to go into custody later on today and I need to check if she is ok to travel."

"Can I see your ID Doctor?" One of them asked.

"Sure," Anne said and held it out in front of her.

"Mind if we check it?"

"Fine," Anne hoped Heinlein’s people had done their job properly.

A policeman scanned in the chip on the ID card with his PDA and in a few seconds he said, "Go on, You’re cleared."

"Thanks, Officer," Anne smiled sweetly and went inside the room.

Angela was awake and reading ‘Hello’ magazine as Anne walked in. Thru her hospital nightgown Angela saw that her shoulder was bandaged tightly. ‘Should I have hit your head instead?’ she thought.

"Hello doctor," Angela said sweetly.

‘It’s hard to believe this is the woman, no, not a woman, the girl that did this to my Elizabeth’ Anne thought. "How are you today?" Anne asked.

"I’m ok, but they think I shot Elizabeth, can you believe it? I’m her best friend! They kidnapped me too. It wasn’t me! It was this vicious red headed woman. She shot me, and then shot Elizabeth. I gave the police a description of her."

Anne walked slowly towards the door and put a chair under the door handle. She then turned to a puzzled looking Angela and said, "Did she look like this?"

Anne felt her body morph into her ‘Friday’ guise and a few seconds later stood in front of a terrified Angela.

Angela’s scream had died in her throat. It was the same woman as had paralyzed her last night! Furthermore this doctor had changed into her right in front of her eyes. But a full body change wasn’t possible. All her life she had been told it hadn’t happened, that DNA modification wasn’t possible and therefore the events of the Fury were part of a ploy to destroy Dr Bexley. "Who... What..." She stammered.

Anne sat down on Angela’s bed. "I think you know who I am. I can only be one person can’t I? Why’d you do it?"

"Beloved Mother," Anne whispered in awe. Surely Dr Bexley was dead. Every shred of evidence she had ever been shown said that she had committed suicide. If Dr Bexley were still alive then that changed everything. Why did she wait so long before revealing herself? So many questions formed in her mind.

"I never wanted to be turned into a goddess. Why did you kidnap Elizabeth and force her to become like me at the height of my madness? You made her into a monster!" Anne was trying to restrain her anger.

"She wasn’t a monster. She was you! We have liberated her mind from its shackles. Released her potential," Angela said as though repeating some mantra.

Anne took out the voice recorder from her coat pocket, and placed in on a tray in front of Angela. She pressed the play button and played her interview with Elizabeth the night before to Angela.

Angela’s eyes widened with horror as seemingly Elizabeth explained the brutal fucking, murder and mutilation of her family. "It’s a lie. You recorded it!" she sobbed.

"It’s no lie. Do you know who shot her? I had to shoot my own flesh and blood, and you made me do it," Anne’s voice was a deathly whisper.

"How did we know she would turn out like this? She wouldn’t come to us on her own. We needed to do something or else her gifts would be lost to the world," Angela said, trying to ignore the fact that it was her idol and her god sitting in front of her.

"Then that was her choice and you should have respected it! When you sit in your prison cell and rot for the next twenty years I want you to remember that you destroyed the life of my only child. I’ll never forget or forgive that as long as I live!" Anne snapped.

Angela stared at Anne, who thought she had betrayed the core of who she was and what she stood for. "You’re not supposed to be like this! I love you, I love what you did, and what you stand for," Angela said, still deeply shocked by the venom of Anne’s attack.

Anne continued. She wanted to take Angela down. Not kill her, but destroy this cult once and for all. "I’ve always been like this. As for what I did, I’m not proud of that at all. Yes, I saw your wrong and completely misleading propaganda about me, but I ignored it. It was amusing to see you people come up with even more improbable theories to explain what had gone on. The worrying thing was people believed you! Sure, it was nice for the ego to be treated as some kind of guru. However, it misled a whole load of people. I haven’t got any more answers than anyone else. Seeing you people do this to me made me sad and a little angry. You were defaming some of the most wonderful people I have ever known, and in case you’re wondering who they are, they are called Matthew, Kat and Cathline. That’s right. I feel honored and humbled that they forgave me and gave me a second chance. Not many people would. Are they the kind of people who would commit fraud and murder? I didn’t think so."

"But you did so much good. You stopped a war, saved people’s lives," Angela’s previously haughty look had gone, and had been replaced by a look of hurt and pain.

"I also killed people. Everything Cathline wrote about me was true. I stopped a war because I had to, not because of some divine guidance. Actually, it took a whole load of us to do it. Kat deserves a lot of the credit and quite rightly she gets it; everyone involved does. None of what you gave me sole credit for I did alone. Curing Detective Cox, I had a whole team work on that for me. All I did was provide the plan."

Angela shook her head in disbelief, "No you’re lying."

Anne gave Angela a vicious stare, "No I’m not! I’ve spent years trying to exorcise the ghosts of my past and everywhere I went you people were not only dragging them back up again but getting them wrong. Still live and let live, or so I thought; that was, until you took my daughter hostage. What you did to her I can never forgive. I vented all my initial fury on your cult leader, but when you come out from prison watch out! If you try to revive your evil cult then I will come for you. I will come for you all!" Anne’s voice had dropped to a deathly hiss. She had suppressed the anger she had felt before, but this bitch in the hospital bed needed to be so scared and put in her place that she would regret her decisions for the rest of her life. Still in the same venomous tone of voice Anne said, "I’ll say it again, just in case you missed it. You destroyed the life of my only child, someone who I had loved from the moment she was conceived. It was my love for her that kept me away, and my love for her that made me return to her when she needed me most. Yes, I shot her; I had to because otherwise that monster would have been loosed to the world. I may have pulled the trigger, but you have her blood on your hands. I want you to remember how much I hate you, how much I wish I had dissected you alive, just like I did the cult leader."

Angela gave a gasp of horror. Her father was dead! Killed by the woman she had adored.

Anne continued, "But I spared you. I’ve had enough of death and killing, and the thought of you rotting in a prison cell thinking on what you did to me is punishment enough. I hope it eats away at you day by day, minute by minute, until you feel so much grief that every day you struggle to find a reason to live. In my mind that’s far worse than a simple bullet in the head and far more than you deserve."

Anne was about to launch another scathing attack, but suddenly noticed Angela reach inside her mouth and suddenly started to convulse. Her mouth was foaming and she was making gagging noises. Anne rushed over to her as various alarms went off around her. A few seconds later Angela had stopped breathing. Anne quickly changed back into Dr Anne William’s body, stuffed the voice recorder back in her pocket and whipped away the chair from the door just in time before a full crash team burst in.

"I think she killed herself. Looks like a cyanide compound. There was nothing I could do," Anne said breathlessly.

"What happened?"

"I was taking her new readings and just chatting. She then tells me she doesn’t want to go to prison and then she reached into her mouth and suddenly convulsed there was nothing I could do. She was dead in seconds," Anne said sorrowfully. She hadn’t meant to drive Angela to suicide with that last comment, but obviously being hated and despised by someone you had thought of as divine, added to the fear and humiliation of going to prison was too much for her. Anne knew the hospital board would interview her over this incident but she knew she could handle it. She felt sorry for Angela, believing that the woman who was Dr Elizabeth Bexley was some kind of prophet and source of all wisdom. Anne didn’t feel like that at all. She felt as though death, misery, and tragedy followed her wherever she went. Mark was right to walk away from her. She was right in her suicide note written years ago. She truly was death incarnate and Mark was better off well away from her.

o—o—o—

Kat, Matthew, and a newly arrived Cathline hoped they would find Alex at the hospital, but when they arrived at the IC ward he was nowhere to be found. The hospital staff had done a fine job of keeping the press away, so they entered the hospital unmolested.

Kat had hoped that Elizabeth’s condition would improve overnight, but a briefing from the doctor treating her told her otherwise. At least it hadn’t gone downhill, was the most hopeful thing she could say.

"You know I’m here for you both," Cathline said, holding Kat’s hand in comfort.

Matthew nodded, "Yeah, thanks Cathline. I just wish all this hell bitch’s daughter thing hadn’t come out. That’s all we needed."

"Alex must feel as though we lied to him. It would look to him as though we didn’t trust him enough to tell him. That’s not true at all. It was between Elizabeth and him. It wasn’t our business to tell him, it was Elizabeth’s," Kat said, and glanced towards Elizabeth, still connecting to several machines and tubes.

"I know," Alex said from the doorway. He had gone to the coffee machine and was now on his way back.

"Alex!" Cathline stood up and gave Alex a hug.

"Hey watch the coffee," Alex said, but returned the embrace all the same.

Standing up from his seat nearest Elizabeth, Matthew said to Alex, "Here have my seat."

"Thanks. Kat, I’m sorry for walking out like that. I was just in shock, that’s all. Why didn’t she tell me?" Alex said softly.

"I dunno. Maybe she thought it wasn’t important. Maybe she thought who she was, was more important than where she came from," Kat said in reply.

"I guess we’ll never know," Alex said, and took hold of Elizabeth’s hand. Turning to Elizabeth, Alex said, "Why didn’t you tell me, silly! Did you think I would run just because of who your mother was?"

Elizabeth said nothing in reply. Just the constant breathing and beeping of the machines.

"We’ll leave you to it," Matthew said. It was obvious Alex needed to get this out of his system.

A tearful Alex just nodded his thanks.

Kat, Matthew and Cathline filed out of the room leaving Alex alone.

"Hey Kiddo I brought you some stuffed toys down at the shop. They didn’t have Kweepa and Rooney in stock yet, but I’ll pick them up later for you," Alex fingered Elizabeth’s engagement ring as if reminding her that she was still his.

"I don’t know if you can feel this ring still on your finger, but it’s a sign of our love for each other. It tells the world we are meant to be. I don’t care whose cells you came from, or what DNA you have. I just want you back with me. Kat and Matthew showed me and you that love can cross any boundaries, outlast the fiercest fury and endure the greatest pain. If death is the final boundary then love can cross that too. No matter what happens I will love you until I finally join you at wherever we go when we die. I might look a little older than you, but you’ll always look as you did that night on the beach, or when you put that ring on your finger," Alex wiped fresh tears from his eyes.

"I know that’s what mom holds on to, John’s memory that is. It’s why she hasn’t found anyone else and wont for the rest of life. Yes, I know she had a thing for Kat and Dr Bexley, but deep down she really loved John. I’m just like her; I mate for life. I know how lonely she is, and how it eats into her, but she’s got me now, and that I think has almost made up for John not being there. If she can spend her life alone, waiting to be reunited with him then I can do the same. Elizabeth, I promise I WILL do the same. When it’s time to say goodbye I will take this ring from your finger and wear it next to my heart, because that is where you will always be," Alex fingered the ring once more and clenched Elizabeth’s hand tighter.

"We are soul mates, you and I. If our souls can’t be together this time around, maybe they will another. Maybe this life was just them getting to know each other, and in the next life they’ll meet and have real party. You’ve just got to the party before me, that’s all. You can pour me a beer, get the best food from the table and wait for me. To me it will be a lifetime, but to you I’ll just be a few moments behind."

Alex turned his head away and used his sleeve to brush away the tears. Turning once more to Elizabeth he said, "I don’t want to wait until the next lifetime. I want you now! Prove me wrong Kiddo. Prove to me that you don’t want to meet me there just yet. I dare you! You never could resist a dare from me could you? So why are you chickening out now!"

Alex looked up at Elizabeth’s face hoping to see a flicker of life, but it remained still and deathly pale. Alex started to sob once more "Come on God, fucking do something!" he swore in desperation and despair.

There was no answer and Alex turned and kissed Elizabeth’s hand once more. Any hope that he had been holding was slowly fading away. He realized that the sooner he faced up to Elizabeth’s death, the sooner he could move on and start to rebuild. He glanced at Elizabeth’s engagement ring. It would soon be next to his heart forever, and Elizabeth would be gone.

o—o—o—

"I don’t understand it!" Mark was telling Wills.

"What’s not to understand? She dumped her car at the golf course, left all her clothes behind in her room. There was milk in the fridge, food in the pantry, and a half drunk cup of coffee on the table. She’s done a runner. Anne Baxter is no more, she’s gone off to start a new life under a different identity," Wills explained.

"She told me she was working on something that would save the global, marine ecosystem. It seemed the most important thing in her life. We’d worked out we have less than sixty years before it faced total collapse. There’s no way she would run out on that kind of problem," Mark said. Anne had seemed so fanatical and secretive about her project, abandoning it didn’t seem to make sense.

"She can still carry it on elsewhere, under a different name."

Wills suggested.

Mark rubbed his face in thought "But she left all her research behind. Her PDA, her E-library and her samples, everything. If it was that important and it was, she would take it with her. It would take years to get back to where she was now."

"I suppose. Did she send you any E-mail? A dear john?" Wills asked.

"No, nothing. She just told me she loved me and then after I told her how I felt she stormed off," Mark said.

"I just hope she’s ok," Wills commented.

"Hah! ‘Miss rip you limb from limb,’ you can bet on it!" Mark snapped. The hurt of Anne’s actions and revelation still ran surprisingly deep.

o—o—o—

The hospital board and the police were interviewing Anne. They were trying to find out if she had been involved in Angela’s death, The interview had been going on for hours, and Anne desperately wanted to go and see how Elizabeth was doing. She had one final task to do before she left.

"Dr Williams, we’ve identified the cause of death."

"Was it cyanide?" Anne asked.

"Yes. It was held in a small capsule contained inside the lower left molar. There were two small buttons embedded in the tooth, one either side so as to avoid accidentally setting it off. The area around the tooth hadn’t healed properly so I guess it must have been put in recently."

"So I’m free to go?"

"One last question. Why do you think she waited until you were there to trigger it?" A policeman asked.

"It’s my guess she wanted a witness. To ensure the world knew about her suicide," Anne commented.

"Thank you Doctor Williams. It seems as though you did everything you could, and were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. We’ll take care of everything from here on."

A few minutes later Anne walked out of the office. She made her way to the intensive care unit and found where Elizabeth was being treated. A young man she assumed was Cathline’s son was sitting there holding Elizabeth’s hand, and whispering into her ear. On hearing her walk in Alex looked up, his deep brown eyes streaked with tears, and his face utterly tired. Anne didn’t want to shoo him away but he clearly needed a break.

"I need to check on her condition. Would you mind leaving for a few minutes," Anne asked.

"Can’t I stay? I promised her I’d always be here. What if she wakes up?" Alex asked.

"Then she’ll still be here waiting for you," Anne said firmly.

"Doctor Atkins said I could stay," Alex protested.

Anne gave Alex a stern stare "Look, I admire your concern for her. If she were my daughter sitting there then I would want you to. But you look shattered, How much sleep have you had in the last day or so? You’ll be no use to her or your family if you burn yourself out now."

"I suppose," Alex admitted. He stood up gave Elizabeth a goodbye kiss, and taking a last look back at her walked out of the room.

Anne checked over the readings on the life support systems. There had been no change at all in her external condition but it seemed as though the internal bleeding had been stopped fairly quickly. That was good. Elizabeth’s patient log showed that a number of treatments had been discussed, including stem cell rejuvenation, but the consensus was Elizabeth was too far gone to respond. Anne had to concur with that prognosis. She looked at Elizabeth lying on the bed; what could be seen thru the tubes and breather mask showed that her face was peaceful and pain free.

Anne walked to the door and flipped the sign across that said ‘Do not enter, treatment in progress’, and closed it. That should keep Matthew, Kat and the others away for a while. She sat down on the seat where Alex had been sitting and took hold of Elizabeth’s hand. "Elizabeth, I’m so sorry for putting you thru this but it was the only way. If I had let you go then somebody would have killed you there and then. That wouldn’t have given anyone the chance to say goodbye properly, and not given me the chance to do what I have to do. Of all the things I have done in my life this was the one that broke my heart the most. I will look back fifty, a hundred years from now and know that I was the one who probably allowed my only child to die."

Anne paused for a few moments, gathering her thoughts. "I can’t stay for long. I need to get back and get things moving on my project. If I fail then we’ll all lose our children and their children’s children. Elizabeth, I don’t want to leave you but I have to. In all those years of watching you grow up from afar I never stopped loving you, never stopped wishing I could be there for you. And the one time I was there it was too late. I’m in a dark pit and can see no glimpse of sunlight. The man I loved, who treated me like a real person, not some inhuman monster, has turned out like all the others. I want to go back and see if he’ll try again. I don’t blame him for the way he feels. It’s not him, it’s me. This quote sums up how I feel. I know you can’t hear me but it does help me.

‘You do me wrong to take me o’ the grave: Thou art a soul in bliss; but I am bound upon a wheel of fire, that mine own tears do scald like molten lead."

Anne looked at Elizabeth’s engagement ring on her hand and smiled "It looks just like the one your dad gave me. I’m sure you were as happy as I was when you were asked. Our fates are linked, I think. We both need someone to pull us out of the dark places where we are," With her other hand she gently gave Elizabeth’s hair a loving stroke, "I’m going to give you something to help you on your way. It’ll take time to work but it’s for the best."

Anne concentrated hard until sweat started to form on her brow. Inside her body she could feel her changeling organ starting to synthesize the chemical building blocks she required. She nearly passed out under the strain of concentration, but a few minutes later a small, needle like tube grew from her hand. "I once gave Kat an old Egyptian blessing and it’s stuck with me ever since. I’m now passing it onto you."

Anne took Elizabeth’s hand once more and stretched out her lifeless arm. Tearfully she plunged the needle into Elizabeth’s arm and whispered, "May God go with you in all the dark places where you must walk."

Within a few moments Elizabeth’s already tenuous and weak brain activity had started to fall. Anne pulled the needle out from Elizabeth’s arm, and it retracted back into her hand. She placed Elizabeth’s limp arm back inside the bed and stood up. Putting a finger to her lips, and kissing it, she put it on Elizabeth’s exposed forehead. Anne checked the monitor screens and already the brain activity was falling away. Anne looked around for a pen and paper and saw one on the clipboard at the end of Elizabeth’s bed. She took it out and wrote down the same blessing as she had given Elizabeth, and signed it ‘Dr Anne Williams’.

Trying to resist a sob, Anne fled out of the room.

o—o—o—

Kat’s pager bleeped in the hotel room. She had been given it by the hospital in case of a change in Elizabeth’s condition. She sprinted to it and saw a text message ‘Please call - Urgent!’

"What is it?" Matthew asked.

"Quick pass me the phone," Kat demanded.

"Want me to wake Alex?" Cathline asked.

"No don’t bother. He looks shattered. That doctor was right to send him home. We’ll wake him if we need to," Kat said softly. This was hitting them all hard.

"Catch," Matthew said, throwing Kat the phone.

Kat quickly dialed the number and a few seconds later said "We need to go in. Cathline, leave a note for Alex. He’ll want to come."

Within twenty minutes, they were inside another briefing room, much like the one Kat had been shown when she had first got there. Doctor Atkins and the neuro-consulant were present in the room, both looking gaunt and sad.

"What is it?" Kat asked hardly daring to speak.

"There’s been a change in Elizabeth’s condition, and it’s not a good one. Over the last couple of hours her brain activity has dropped below what we would call the ‘threshold of life’."

Cathline let out a cry of despair. She knew what it meant.

"What are we talking about?" Matthew asked.

The consultant replied, "The normal brain has millions of electrical pulses firing off every second. Elizabeth’s has dropped to one or two per minute. It’s just random neurons firing as her brain slowly dies. I’m so sorry, but her fight for life is over, from now on it’s just the machines. She gave her consent for her organs to be used in the event of her death. Many more people will be able to live because of her."

"NOOO!" Kat roared.

Matthew just held his heads in his hands and sobbed.

The neuro consultant handed Matthew a sheet of paper and a pen. Matthew took it, and said, "What’s this?"

Doctor Atkins explained in a deeply sorrowful tone, "This is the form that gives us permission to switch the machines off. You can choose whatever date and time you want to make sure everyone is there who needs to be. It gives us permission to remove whatever organs we need as soon as you have said your goodbyes. The quicker we do this the more people will be able to live full and happy lives because of her."

"Don’t you dare sign it!" Kat snarled at Matthew.

"Kat. Please let go of her. She’s gone," Cathline said tearfully.

"I will not let go because she isn’t dead!" Kat snapped.

Matthew gave Kat a hug and said, "Kat, please let her go. I want her to be alive as much as you do. But she’s gone."

"You sign that form and the next form you’ll be signing are our divorce papers!" Kat’s face was red with a mixture of despair, sorrow and anger. From Kat’s tone of voice Matthew knew this wasn’t an idle threat. She really meant it!

"Mrs Stephens, other people need that equipment. We had to fly a small child who had been hit by a car, and was badly injured to another hospital today, because our intensive care units are full. If there were a glimmer of hope I would tell you. Please let your daughter go. There’s nothing we can do for her now. For the sake of others, and yourself please let us do this." Doctor Atkins had seen resistance and denial like this countless times before. It was a natural reaction and it was best to let it burn itself out.

"I’ll buy you a hundred fucking machines, I’ll build an entire ward for you, just don’t switch off those machines," Kat demanded.

"Kat, let her go," Cathline said softly.

"NO!"

"Please. For her sake and ours," Cathline said tearfully.

"NO!!" Kat’s denial was more forceful than the last.

"How long can we wait before signing the forms?" Matthew asked doctor Atkins.

"We can keep her body functioning indefinitely, but we are beyond the point where it becomes of any use. Practically, we need those machines now."

"Not good enough!" Kat snapped.

"Kat, please," Cathline pleaded.

"No they can take me to court if they want, but I absolutely do not give my permission for this!" Kat said with all her will.

"Kat I’ve never known you so selfish. LET HER GO!" Matthew pleaded.

"Selfish? Not killing our own daughter? I hardly call that selfish!"

Kat shouted at Matthew.

"Kat she’s already..." Matthew started to say.

"Don’t say it! If you finish that sentence than that’s it between us. Forget thirty five years of being married and what we all went thru. If you make me do this then that’s IT!" Kat’s eyes were red with tears.

Matthew stayed silent. Kat was serious. There wasn’t much that could drive her away from him but if he acted against her wishes in this then he would lose her and as well as Elizabeth. That was something he wasn’t prepared to do. He had to give Kat time to overcome the shock she was feeling. Kat was in denial, he knew that, but she needed him more than ever and he needed her. There had to be another way. Then it came to him "It would take a few weeks to get a court order, correct?"

Dr Atkins nodded, "Yes it would."

Matthew turned to Kat and put his hand on hers "We’ll give it six weeks. If anyone needs that equipment we will pay for them to use whatever facilities they need, Euro-health service or private, it doesn’t matter. If you need more staff hire them, whatever it takes."

Kat nodded her agreement. "If there’s no change in six weeks then I’ll agree." As soon as she said it, she burst into tears, turned and gave Matthew a ‘protect me’ hug.

Doctor Atkins said, "One more thing. The doctor who discovered her condition wrote you a message. I guess she knew what was going to happen, and sought to bring comfort to you. It’s a single sentence and simply says ‘May God go with you in all the dark places where you must walk.’"

Through her tears Kat gave a smile. "Tell her thanks. A friend told me the very same thing years ago. It stood me in good stead then and I’m sure it will now. Cathline, Matthew let’s give Alex a call. He’ll want to come."

o—o—o—

Anne packed her bag and checked out of the hotel. She had cried all the way home, but there had been no other choice. No choice what so ever. On the way back she had made up her mind. She would go back to Mark. He was the only person she had left that she could go to. She needed to be near his innocence; it was the only way out of the darkness she was in. She had lived for years in the shadows of her mind and her past and now they had consumed her. Her final monologue with Elizabeth had shown her the way. If she continued the way she was, only death, despair and darkness would remain. She had just enough hope left inside her to believe that there was more to her fate than that cold, lifeless existence.

Anne changed forms into Anne Baxter at Heathrow terminal six ladies room. Her thoughts went back to that hospital room where Elizabeth lay, back to a weeping Matthew, Kat and Alex, and how devastated they must be feeling. Nothing she could think of could bring her any joy any more, her only thoughts were of the words from King Lear she had spoken to Elizabeth

"You do me wrong to take me o’ the grave: Thou art a soul in bliss; but I am bound upon a wheel of fire, that mine own tears do scald like molten lead."

It would be a long flight and journey back to Haverford, so she tried to rest before the flight. At times like this she wished she still had use of the Aurora, but she wasn’t sure she could face another gut wrenching journey.

Ten long hours later she paid the pound to release her car, gave a basic set of answers to the police, and drove back to her dorm. Mark had to take her back and this time she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

o—o—o—

Mark was just in the middle of brushing his teeth when he heard a loud knock at the door. Quickly rinsing his mouth out and washing the spittle down the sink he ran to the door, "Ok Wills I’m coming he called."

Mark flung open the door and saw Anne standing in front of him. Mark thought she looked tired and worn out. Her normally flawless face had dark rings around her eyes, and her hair looked as though it could do with a wash. Anne was normally impeccably dressed, with every article of clothing carefully matched, but she looked as though she was wearing clothes a size too small that hadn’t ever seen an iron. It was the oldest and saddest Mark had ever seen her look.

Anne spoke first; aware that she looked a mess "Can I come in.

I need to talk."

Mark was about to tell her to go away, but the once infallible Dr Bexley, the woman who had changed the world forever, and had slain a gang who was going to kill them, now looked as vulnerable as a child. He wasn’t sure if it was an act or not but he couldn’t ignore her, not now. "Sure, come in."

Anne gave a smile. "Thanks," she said, and walked inside.

"Coffee?" Mark asked nervously. Why was she here?

Anne shook her head, "No thanks. I drank loads on the plane back so I only had a couple of hours sleep."

So she went overseas, Mark thought. Mark sat down on the opposite armchair to where Anne was sitting. "You look exhausted. Why not go back to bed."

"I needed to see you," Anne said softly.

"Why? I think we said all that we needed to say don’t you?" Mark stated. A few days after she had left, the numbness that comes from a broken heart at started to set in. The last thing he wanted to do was reopen the wounds again.

"Please," Anne pleaded.

"Look. I’ve got a tutorial in about twenty minutes. What about after classes? That’ll give you some time to freshen up and have a rest," Mark said. Why did Anne, sorry Dr Bexley look so mentally tired? It was as though all the life had been drained out of her and all that was left was an empty shell.

Anne nodded. It could wait till later "I’ll meet you at the beach.

Where we had our first date. At say six?"

Mark nodded his agreement. "Ok. It’ll give me chance to collect all the stuff you leant me as well. It’ll save you a job later on," In the meantime he would send a note to Wills asking him to explain the truth about Anne Baxter to the world if he didn’t return and give a code word. He was going to take no chances at all.

o—o—o—

"So we have six weeks," Alex said tearfully. The rest of the family had driven back to the hotel to find Alex getting ready to leave for the hospital.

"That’s all we could get. I’m sorry." Kat took hold of Alex’s hand for comfort.

"So that’s it. She’s dead," Alex said bitterly.

Matthew nodded his head, "I’m afraid so. Any brain activity there is just the random firing of neurons as her brain slowly breaks down."

Cathline moved over and gave Alex a hug "We’ll get thru this together just like we always have."

"It was only a week ago we were having punt races on the river Cam. I still can’t believe she’s dead," Alex wiped away some fresh tears.

"She not dead. I keep telling you. Why won’t you believe me!"

Kat snapped.

Matthew gave a sigh. "Kat I’m saying nothing. We said all there is to say back at the hospital.

"Good!"

Cathline tried to defuse the situation. "Look, John’s flying over tomorrow. We need to be there for him too. He’s only just found out about the whole thing, so we all need to help him cope. We’ve had 48 hours to adjust to this. He’s still trying understand how and why he’s lost his sister."

"He hasn’t lost his.." Kat started to say.

Alex reached over and took Kat’s hand "Kat, you don’t need to be strong for me. I know she’s gone. If you don’t let her go you’ll only end up very ill and none of us need that. You need to start dealing with this properly, not deny it out of hand and get angry at anyone who disagrees with you."

On hearing this, grief welled up inside Kat and she let out a loud sob, "I’m sorry, maybe I am in denial, but part of me refuses to believe that she’s dead. We have six weeks before they switch off the machines and I mean to make the most of them."

"Why did they do this to her?" Alex asked in disbelief

"Who. The Children of Bexley?" Matthew asked. He had been wondering the same thing.

"The police thought they might have tried to persuade her to join them. It doesn’t matter now, does it," Cathline explained to John.

"I never had Angela down as the type. She seemed so nice. Elizabeth thought the world of her. She was going to be one of our bridesmaids." Alex turned and walked towards the hotel room window. Night had long fallen and the orange sodium glow of the streetlight’s cast shimmering patterns on the roads. It had rained as they had come back from the hospital, which echoed the tears Alex felt form in his eyes.

"Who knew? I heard she killed herself this morning. Couldn’t face trial and the humiliation of the cult or so I heard. Why in hell did Elizabeth try and escape?" Matthew asked. Once again the empty, lost feeling he’d been having all day had nearly overwhelmed him.

"Because she takes after her mother," Kat said softly.

"She was her mother’s daughter alright," Cathline agreed.

Matthew put his arm around Kat and drew her close. He ignored Kat’s use of the present tense. "We need an early night. We still have a long way to go, and this is only the second day."

o—o—o—

Anne sat herself down on the beach and proceeded to wait for Mark to arrive. She’d had a long relaxing bubble bath and had taken the time to do her hair properly. She found that she had been unable to sleep. Her mind was on Mark, and on Elizabeth so many miles away. His reaction earlier on in the day was a severe blow. He still wanted to break up, she just hoped he’d turn up. She checked her watch, it was now six thirty and Mark was half an hour late. With a sigh of resignation she stood up and walked towards her car.

She reached her car and found a small parcel on the front seat. On it was a small note with a single word, ‘Elizabeth’ written on it. She recognized the handwriting. It belonged to Mark. Sadly she opened the driver’s door and got inside. Reaching over, she picked up the letter and opened it.

"Dear Elizabeth"

Here are the things you lent me during our time together. I wanted to get them back to you as soon as I could. Please forgive my not turning up. I couldn’t face seeing you again. The last few days have been the most painful of my life, but I realize that we are too different to be together. When I saw you standing outside my room today, part of me wanted you back but I knew then that we’re not meant to be.

I spent months wishing I could get to know you, but you’re not the woman I fell in love with. She was just an act, a role for you to play. That’s what hurts most of all, the woman I fell in love with wasn’t real. She was a creation, made up by you.

How can I forget who you are? How can we go back to how we were before? We can’t. Too much has happened for that to be possible.

I don’t feel betrayed. You stayed when you could have just vanished into the night. What you told me the other night took real courage.

I know you have a busy month or so. So do I. Whatever you are planning to do, I hope to God it works because we need it. I’ve mailed you my latest research, and I hope that it’s of use to you. We both leave here in about eight weeks, and I expect we’ll meet again at some conference. When we do, we’ll be able to chat about all the fun we had and how things may have advanced. Please don’t worry about me saying anything to anyone—your secret is safe with me.

I’m not making myself too clear so please forgive me. I’m just trying to stop things before they got too far and hurt us more. I’m sure that there’s someone out there for you. I’m just not sure that person is me.

Mark"

Anne tearfully put the note down. It was over. She had at most two painful months left before she finished here, but she decided that she would pack up and leave as soon as everything was ready. She was sure Tel-Aviv would take her back and the delay in the project wouldn’t be that great. It would be fitting for Tel-Aviv, the site of her greatest failure, to be the place of her greatest triumph. She couldn’t bear to be at the college campus any longer. Her pain was too great. Everywhere she walked she would remember being there with Mark, and of the last best hope he represented. She would pack only her notes, other essentials, and get the rest sent later on. She could be out of here in less than two hours.

Her paper had a month of solid work left on it before it was ready. She would need to prepare samples, document everything she had ever done and ensure there was a complete and accurate audit trail of everything she had worked on. Her paper would face the full spotlight of a skeptical scientific community when it was published and she had to be ready for it. In a way it was just as well Mark hadn’t shown, she wouldn’t be able to pay him much attention anyway. But she had desperately hoped to be able to patch things up beforehand.

Fresh tears formed in her eyes, born from a forever broken heart. She switched the engine on and drove off From Wills’s car parked the other side of the road Mark and Wills watched Anne drive off. Mark said nothing for a few moments, before turning to Wills and saying, "Come on we’d better go."

Wills turned to look at Mark. Mark’s face looked deeply sad, there were deep worry lines around his eyes. He looked sadder than Wills had ever seen him. Even more so when he’d read about when Anne was missing after the boat accident. "We can still go after her," he said.

Mark shook his head, "No. It’s for the best. We’d never catch her anyway. Why couldn’t she be just a normal girl?"

Wills started the engine and slowly drew away from the side of the road "Because, she’s not a normal girl. If she were you would never have noticed her. You spent months telling me how unique and special she was. What did you call her, that’s right an ‘Uber Babe’."

"That was before she turned out to be a inhuman killer," Mark snapped.

Wills indicated to turn left and joined the freeway once he was on it he turned and said to Mark, "From what I saw of her she was everything you described and more. You didn’t fall in love with Anne Baxter you fell in love with her, Dr Elizabeth Bexley. I’ve just realized that you were very, very wrong about her," Wills wanted to have his say and switched off the auto-nav, the last thing he wanted was for it to keep interrupting him. What he had to say to Mark was important.

"How so?" Mark asked.

"She wasn’t play acting, nobody is that good. That was how she really was. Anne Baxter wasn’t just a name for Dr Bexley to hide under. It was how she really is. Don’t you see she wasn’t trying to hide? She was trying to rebuild her life. That’s why she went back to college, built a whole life around Anne Baxter and eventually fell in love with a complete idiot called Mark."

"You heard the news the other day. The cops are going ape about it. They’ve issued an appeal for witnesses because they don’t have any. I was going to call in. ‘Yes Officer I know who ripped those men apart; it was my pissed off girlfriend’. You didn’t see her rip those guys apart; it was horrific." Mark said bitterly.

Wills’s sense of frustration was growing, "No I didn’t. But you know what I’m glad she did it, because in that one incident she showed you how much she loved you. She put everything she had on the line for you that night. She risked everything she had done as Anne Baxter, her mysterious project, her entire life was laid bare for you. Sure, she could have just called the cops, run away, or even stunned those guys, but she didn’t. In one moment she said ‘Here’s who I really am. I love and trust you enough not to hurt me or betray me’. That’s hard enough for anyone to do let alone her."

"But she never said anything to m.." Mark started to say.

"Yes she did! She told you she loved you, and you’ve gone and thrown that right back at her."

"But.." Mark started to say

Wills interrupted again his voice "For fucks sake, Mark! For nearly a year I’ve watched you mope around and wallow in self pity over that girl and not once told you to get a life. Now I am. You nearly failed your course because you were too distracted by her, and in fact she saved you didn’t she? I’ve never seen you like this about anyone before. Not even me and we’ve been friends since the age of five! You don’t feel like that about just anyone, Mark, and you don’t throw it away because of what people did years ago. It’s how they are now and what they are like now that matters. From what I’ve seen of Dr Bexley she is everything you yearned for, for months and more besides."

"But she kill...."

"Don’t interrupt me! I’ve told you why I think she did what she did and from her actions after that I know I’m right. Deep down you do too. So do we go back to campus and you can live out your life wondering what if, or do we go find her and you can tell her what a full sized dickhead you’ve been."

Mark gave a deep sigh. Wills was right. He did still love her.

Why else did he feel so sad and guilty about leaving the note? Why else had he stayed behind to watch Anne as she had picked it up and driven off? If he still didn’t love her then why, back at his dorm this morning didn’t he want to open the wounds again? Why had he tried to talk himself out of being with her when all he’d done all year was yearn to be with her? The only answers to these questions were that he still loved her. He had always loved her and always would! "Let’s go find her. I’ll see what she has to say," Mark said softly.

Wills gave a smile "Even complete dickheads get it right sometimes."

Suddenly in front of them a concertina of brake lights flicked on from car to car. Wills swore quietly. He’d wanted him and Mark to have some peace and quiet, so he’d turned the auto-nav off and now he was caught in some kind of traffic jam. "Fuck it," Wills swore and switched the auto-nav back on

Straight away the dulcet female tones of the auto-nav said "Wills you have stationary traffic for six miles. A Tanker has overturned at intersection 15. The estimated delay is two hours. Would you like some music?"

"Fuck," Mark replied. Typical! He fished his PDA out and started to write Anne an E-mail. If he couldn’t be there in person he’d send a letter.

o—o—o—

Anne had just finished packing the last of her clothes into her suitcase and was now composing a transfer request letter to send to the dean and Tel-Aviv. She’d managed to get a last minute platinum class flight to Tel-Aviv from JFK leaving the next day. She didn’t want to spend that amount of money, but otherwise she’d be facing a three or four day delay for a standard seat. She just needed to get away from this whole thing. She had debated flying back to England to see Elizabeth, but she knew there was nothing she could do for her now. Every visit she made to the hospital she risked being found out and that was too much of a risk for her to take right now. Besides, it was nearing the long summer vacation, soon the various experts she needed to court would be away from their research labs, and the whole process would slow down for another three months or so. She took a look around once more at the place she’d called home for two years. It hadn’t been a bad place to live, certainly more comfortable than many other places she’d been.

Her mind went back to her torture and killing of the cult leader. She’d felt justified at the time. The clock was ticking for Elizabeth and she had no time to waste. In retrospect it seemed brutal and cruel, like something that that monster Deianeria would do. How much different had Deianeria’s vivid description of the cruel sex, rape, killing and mutilation of her family been compared to the death by vivisection she’d performed on the cult leader? The stark truth was none at all. Although she could claim the moral high ground by claiming it saved a life, in reality she had done it out of anger, fury and fear for her daughter’s life. This time around she couldn’t blame her MPD as she had been cured for twenty years. Mark was right, she was inherently a merciless killer. Deianeria and her were one and the same.

The thought disturbed her a great deal. Mark had been right not to show. How could he ever love someone like her? Not after all she’d done that was for certain. How would he react when she told him of her recent activities? Especially that she’d slowly and methodically dissected a living human being in order to get information. She heard a bleep from her PDA, which was sitting on the bed and had been waiting to be put into her hand luggage.

"Anne, You have one message from Mark Andrews," the female voice of the PDA called.

Anne thought for a moment. It didn’t matter what Mark said or wrote. The fact was that she was just as much of a monster as she had been all those years ago. The motives might have changed, but the method and disregard for human life hadn’t. Mark was worth more than she could give him. "PDA Delete and erase mail. Disregard all future mail from Mark Andrews."

It was so easy for her to say the words that would wipe away four months of hope for her but inside it was horrifically depressing. She had come back hoping to find a ray of hope for her but instead had only found the death of her dreams and the death of that hope. She placed the PDA inside her hand luggage and walked to her car. It would be a long drive but she knew she could keep going all night if she had to. Once she started work in Tel-Aviv then it would all work out, it had to because that was the only thing she had left!

o—o—o—

Wills and Mark cleared the traffic some ninety minutes later. Wills had parked his car as close to Anne’s dorm as he could, but had noticed that Anne’s car had gone. Mark had said that it didn’t mean anything. Maybe she’d had to park it at a more distant lot and walked the rest of the way. Wills however wasn’t so sure. As soon as Wills’s car had drawn to a stop Mark pushed open the door and sprinted to Anne’s dorm. A few seconds later Wills was in hot pursuit. Not wanting to wait for the elevator, Mark ran up the five flights of stairs and almost skidded to a halt outside of Anne’s door. "Anne, Hey open up." Mark gasped.

There was no answer.

"Hey Anne. Open up we need to talk," Mark shouted thru the keyhole. Mark peered inside the room. It was dimly lit inside and that didn’t hold out much hope that Anne was inside.

"Anne. Come on please," Mark pleaded.

Mark heard some footsteps behind him and whirled around, hoping it was Anne, but to his dismay it was only Wills emerging from the elevator.

"Not there huh?" Wills asked.

Mark gave a sigh, "Doesn’t look like it!" Until this point he’d been full of hope that he could patch things up with Anne, but now she’d gone.

Wills tried to cheer Mark up. "Let’s try the lab. Maybe she’s there?"

Mark smiled, "Oh course! Let’s go!"

This time both of them took the elevator and sprinted across the lawn towards the science faculty. They arrived there a few minutes later, and found the doors locked and the lights off. At the sight of this Mark shook his head in defeat and sat down on the steps leading up the to building. He was too late.

Wills gave Mark a comforting look, "Look she’s probably just gone off to think. We’ll try again in the morning."

Mark felt relieved "Ok."

o—o—o—

The next day Mark and Wills tried Anne’s dorm once more. Much to Mark’s dismay there was still no answer to his repeated callings. A quick trip to the science faculty proved fruitless, as did a search of all the college’s allocated car lots. In desperation Mark sent an email to Anne’s faculty head asking for information on her. The police weren’t interested until twenty four hours were up so it came down to Wills and Mark to find out where she had gone to. So they sat outside the science faculty wondering what to do next.

"I know where she’s gone," Wills said, looking at the screen of his PDA.

"Where?" Mark asked expectantly.

Wills pointed at the screen of his PDA. "She’s gone to be with her daughter."

"Daughter?" Mark was stunned. Since when had Dr Bexley ever had a daughter?

"Oh Mark! We can get up-to-the-second information, and net access points are everywhere we go, and you seem to move around in blissful ignorance. It turns out that Elizabeth Stephens is really Dr Bexley’s daughter. She cloned herself years ago and impregnated Jane Stephens with the embryo or something. Anyway Elizabeth Stephens was kidnapped a few days ago and was killed while trying to escape. Well just about killed, she’s in a coma and only bio-support is keeping her alive," Wills explained. Sometimes he wondered what planet Mark lived on.

"Fucking hell. Poor Anne. No wonder she looked beat when I saw her. I bet that’s where she went for those few days. She came back to see if I would have her back and then when I wouldn’t she’s gone back to be with her daughter again," Mark’s stomach felt sick. The fact that his girlfriend had a daughter the same age as him was hard enough to take in, but in Anne’s time of greatest need he had thrown it back in her face. But how was he supposed to know? He just wanted to be with her again, to help her come to terms with the death of her daughter, and to try and put their lives back on track. From what Wills had just read Anne really would need all the help she could get. Help that he had thrown back at her.

"How do you feel?" Wills asked.

Mark sighed, "Like I’ve kicked her in the teeth. She came back for me to help her and I kicked it right back at her. Why do I always screw up when it comes to her? I checked my mail this morning. She deleted my mail without even opening it. I sent another but it came back as blocked. I don’t blame her for doing it. I hurt her more than I thought. What am I going to do Wills?"

"We’re going to find her and you are going to work this out," Wills said determinedly.

"I guess. Look why don’t we go see the faculty head in person. Maybe he knows something by now," Mark said. His sprits had risen a little by Will’s pep talk.

A bleep came from Mark’s PDA and he quickly took it out of his pocket. "It’s from the faculty head. That was quick."

"What’s it say?" Wills said excitedly.

Mark read it out "To Mark Andrews, from Blah blah. Here we go.

Elizabeth Anne Baxter has requested a transfer to Tel-Aviv. Please forward your important family news to services@telaviv.edu."

"She’s gone to Tel-Aviv?" Wills asked.

"I guess she wanted to finish her work away from me," Mark said glumly.

"At least you know where she is. All you need to do is book yourself on a flight and go meet her!" Wills stated.

Mark’s spirits rose. Still holding his PDA he said "PDA what’s the next available flight to Tel-Aviv?"

There was a few moments silence and then a silky female voice said, "The next flight with available seats is four days from now."

"Four days! PDA, what about standby seats. How much are we talking about?"

A few more moments of silence as Mark’s PDA interrogated the airlines booking systems "Standby seats with only a 20% chance of departure are available two days from now at a price of two thousand dollars! Standard price seats flying economy class are available at four thousand dollars. There is a ten percent deposit for all seat reservations"

Mark shook his head in disappointment "Well that’s it then! It may as well be four million dollars! I can’t afford four hundred let alone four thousand! I know Mom and Dad can’t either. Where in hell am I going to get that kind of money?"

"From me," Wills said quietly.

"You haven’t got that kind of money either!" Mark complained.

"Yes, I have if I sell my car. I should get 6K for it. That’s enough to send you to her and enough for me to get another car."

"Wills, I can’t ask you..." Mark started to say.

Wills gave Mark’s shoulder a friendly pat, "You don’t have to ask me. Look, we’ve been friends for nearly twenty years. If Anne is anything like the woman I know she is, she’s worth every cent."

"Will’s I don’t know what to say," Mark said. He was nearly moved to tears by Wills generosity.

Wills smiled "You can tell Anne you love her. That’s enough for me. Go ahead, make the reservation. It’ll take me a few days to sell the car. Anne will still be settling in, so you’ve got a good chance of meeting her there. What’s your credit limit at the moment?"

Mark shrugged. He hadn’t a clue, "PDA what’s my current credit limit?"

The PDA replied a few seconds later "Your credit limit is four hundred and twenty dollars"

Mark smiled "PDA reserve me one open ended return to Tel-Aviv. Standard class leaving five days from now. Use Visa card 1 for reservation deposit"

The PDA beeped for a moment. It would take a few minutes to check all the details.

"There we go. Sorted!" Wills smiled.

"YES!" Mark punched the air with a clenched fist.

The celebrations were cut short by Mark’s PDA "I’m sorry.

Travel visa to Israel denied!"

"PDA, Why in hell. I’ve got a valid visa for all travel," Mark complained

The PDA continued "Visa denied because of previous visit to Egypt less than one year ago. A new Visa will need to be obtained alongside appropriate security clearances."

"Fucking field trip!" Mark swore. He’d been denied because of the field trip to Egypt some months before!

"PDA how long to obtain a new visa?" Mark asked. His heart was in his mouth. It could be months if at all.

The PDA was silent for a few minutes until it spoke once more "Israeli immigration database indicates that the lead time is a maximum of eight weeks. "

"Eight Weeks! She’ll be long gone by then!" Mark complained.

His dreams of getting back with Anne were slipping away.

"First things first. Apply for the visa, let me sell my car and the rest is down to fate," Wills said in a matter of fact manner. It was going to be a long two months for the both of them.

"At least it’ll give me chance to finish my dissertation before I go. I might even stand a chance of getting a Ph.D. by then," Mark tried to look on the bright side of things. It worked, but only up to a point.

Wills gave Mark wry smile, "Come on old friend. I’d better enjoy my car while I’ve still got it. "

o—o—o—

It had been one of the longest weeks Kat had ever endured. John had arrived a few days ago and had immediately broken down in tears. It had fallen to Kat to try and comfort him as only a mother can, but in the end she felt as sad as he did. Elizabeth had shown no improvement at all, and although they hadn’t said anything she knew the doctors desperately needed the equipment. In her heart, she knew that there was still some hope for Elizabeth. There had to be, because the alternative was too awful to contemplate.

She had calmed down from her initial reaction. The shock had given way to stoic determination. For his part Matthew was standing by her, comforting where she needed it, supporting in the quiet times and a shoulder to cry on for the rest of the times. Cathline was trying her hardest to comfort Alex who had nearly burnt himself out with his constant vigils. In the end they had settled on a six hour rota, so that Elizabeth would always have those she loved around her. Alex had been able to get some welcome rest, and now as Kat walked in to take over from Cathline it she thought about what she would say to Elizabeth. They had made a policy decision not to speak about the sadness they felt, only about the good times they had shared together.

As Kat walked into the IC room, she saw Cathline still holding Elizabeth’s hand. On hearing Kat walk in Cathline looked up, her one good eye streaked with tears. Cathline shook her head as if to say ‘no change’. For her part Kat just nodded sadly and swapped seats with Cathline. Normally Cathline looked radiant, improbably beautiful but the strain was showing on her face. Cathline gave Kat a comforting pat on the shoulder and left, she was too tired to speak.

Kat took hold of Elizabeth’s hand and started to speak.

"I Remember when I first found out you were inside me. It was quite a shock I can tell you, but seconds after I was told I knew I had to keep you. How could I kill a new life that was growing inside me, even if you weren’t mine? As you grew so did my love for you. I remember running to Matthew after I’d felt your first kick, and demanding he feel it too. We used to talk to you every night when you were inside me. Telling you what a special girl you were going to be."

Kat paused for a few moments, remembering the feelings of motherhood. Gathering her thoughts she continued, "I’ll admit you didn’t come easy into the world. We thought we’d lost you for one moment but you fought back and lived. You’re like your mother that way, a survivor."

Thoughts of those panicked few seconds, when a newly born Elizabeth had stopped breathing, came back to Kat. Much to Matthew and Kat’s relief Elizabeth had decided to start breathing again, and the emergency had passed. Kat resumed "It was hard at first being a parent. Still, with each passing day our love for you grew and grew. Matthew was there to see your first smile, the first time you rolled over and your first steps. He’s very proud of you. Sure, as a toddler you had an awful temper on you, but you always seemed to know how far to push us. We all had a hard time when you started school. You being the daughter of such famous parents and us saying goodbye to you every day. We knew you were special when you started to ace every test you were given. It wasn’t until we had the blood and brain tests done did we know how special you are."

She remembered the look of horror on Matthew’s face as they were told the news. She felt the same, but deep down her love for Elizabeth stood firm. That day she had vowed to treat Elizabeth as her own flesh and blood daughter and not make the mistakes Dr Bexley’s parents had. They had been outraged when they were told in no uncertain terms that Elizabeth would be confined for her own safety and that of others, should she exhibit the same behavior as Dr Bexley. In the end they had reached a compromise. Cathline would act as the counterbalance, and would decide if and when to notify the authorities. From that time on Cathline had been nearly as involved in Elizabeth’s upbringing as Matthew and herself. Kat continued to speak to the lifeless Elizabeth, "It’s not the major things I miss. It’s the thousand little things, like the way you and Alex used to feud. Each of you trying to out maneuver the other. Like when you decided to go brunette for a week, those kind of things. They add up to an experience that I would never give up for anything in the world. I always wanted to be a mom and you know what? It’s more than lived up to my dreams. You have more than lived up to my dreams and expectations," Kat gave Elizabeth’s hand a squeeze. She checked her watch, only five hours and fifty minutes to go. Her optimism at the start of the week was starting to fade, but from being Elizabeth’s mom for the past twenty two years she knew one thing. Elizabeth wouldn’t give in without a fight, but she had to admit this might be one fight she couldn’t win.

o—o—o—

If the first week was hard on Kat then the next month was even worse. The daily vigils had continued to no discernable effect on Elizabeth, and now even the stoic Kat was starting to think it was all over. They now had only four days left before the machines were switched off and it was a deadline that prayed on all their minds. In fact if that day’s readings on the bio-support systems were to be believed, then Elizabeth’s body was in the process of dying, in spite of the machines. The effort the bio-support systems took to keep her alive had increased by some 17% over the last few hours, and the doctors had told them it was a sign that the end was close at hand. Kat had allowed Matthew to start making the funeral arrangements. Elizabeth would be buried in the tomb where Salah had been laid to rest. Her friends from Cambridge had already been notified of the date and arrangements made to fly them to the island where Elizabeth would be buried.

Matthew had set the date for two weeks from now, which would give them enough time to bring Elizabeth’s body back, and prepare it for burial. Alex had asked them if he could keep the engagement ring he’d given her, and of course they had agreed. Elizabeth would be buried in her favorite outfit, the one she had bought for the meal at the London Hilton. From all around the world messages and get well cards had been pouring in to the hospital. It was good to see that so many people cared about them. Flowers had been arriving every day from people they had never met. So many in fact, that Kat had, had to employ some few administrators to note down the names of the well wishers. Kat vowed to write to everyone in person to thank them personally. It meant more to her than she could say.

Matthew and her had been asked for several interviews for the TV and webcasts, but had politely declined. This was a private moment and they didn’t want to share it. They would issue a press statement in a few days time to thank all those who had offered support and to congratulate the medical team there. Kat’s hope had all but faded, but she had just enough determination to refuse to have the machine’s switched off early. They had gone this far, so another four days wouldn’t matter. Matthew and she had scheduled Elizabeth’s time of death to be at 13:18. This was the time she was born, and it gave a certain sense symmetry to her life.

Kat had been impressed with Alex. He had stood beside Elizabeth every hour he could get away with, and had been on hand to provide advice and comfort to them all. He was so like Cathline it was unreal. She was glad he was there. In the last few months he had changed from the immature joker to a mature young man. He and Elizabeth would have been so perfect together. When she had seen them together it was just like she and Matthew had been. But now the dream was over, shattered by a single gunshot from a fanatical organization.

Nobody had seen the Children of Bexley cult leader for weeks and it was thought he was on the run. The cult had denied all knowledge of the kidnap, but it’s records and assets had been impounded on both sides of the Atlantic. She’d had a strange message from the Guild stating that Salah’s body had been exhumed and was undergoing tests. Kat had no idea where that had come from, only that Elizabeth had requested it be performed a few months back. Kat guessed it was part of Elizabeth’s project she had been running after her first semester. The message had also implied that the Guild knew what to do with the information, so Kat just let it go. The Bexley cult had been the bane of their lives for years and now it seemed as though they had taken their adoration too far. She was sure it wasn’t the whole cult, only a few crackpots but that was all it took to end her daughter’s life.

At least it looked as though the Bexley cult was finished. After they had fucked up the kidnap, people were apparently leaving in droves, disillusioned with the whole thing. Kat was pleased, but that didn’t bring Elizabeth back. Matthew and Cathline shared Kat’s feelings on this, but Alex was finding it hard to understand why they would do anything like this. Sure he understood in his head, but his heart was still some way behind. John too, was finding it hard to come to terms with the death of his sister, but he had tried to busy himself in the detail of the funeral arrangements. Kat kept a watchful eye on him in this, making sure he didn’t bottle up how he really felt. John was a lot like Matthew in that respect. Matthew would bottle things up until he snapped and John would have done the same.

Elizabeth’s burial clothes would be here tomorrow and Kat and the others still had a lot to do.

o—o—o—

Wills ran up the stairs to Mark’s dorm. With a loud staccato knock he banged on the door. It took Mark a few minutes to answer "Hey Wills wass up?"

Wills smiled, "I’ve just transferred four thousand dollars into your account. I did a great deal on the car, so I’ve got a bit more than I wanted but all the better."

Mark punched the air "Wills I could kiss you."

"People will talk, and besides, what would Anne say?" Wills smiled.

Mark laughed. "Guess what? My visa’s due next week so I can go ahead and book."

Wills walked inside Mark’s dorm and sat down. "Any news from Anne?"

Mark shook his head, "Nope. I know she’s arrived and the transfer’s been agreed, but she’s still blocking my mails. All her samples went over last week, so I guess she’s still working on whatever she’s working on. I’ve tried calling the university but they won’t give out personal details over the phone. I’ve waited this long I guess it won’t matter if I wait a little longer."

o—o—o—

Anne checked the clock on the wall. She had been working a solid fifteen hours today, and she was starting to feel tired. Her PDA had told her that Mark had tried to mail her every day for the past five weeks, and that the PDA had blocked and deleted every single one. She had managed to hide her pain in her work and had fallen back on her old escape route of pushing her mind and body to the very limits. She was so close to finishing. She just had to validate the effects on the food chain and she would be done. There would be plenty of time for rebuilding afterwards.

She had noted with dismay that Elizabeth’s bio support systems were due to be switched off in two days time, and that thought did nothing to ease her depression. She had kept a happy face on for her colleagues but it was so hard to keep up the facade. It was now too late to do anything about Elizabeth. But did Mark want a reconciliation? The Mark situation she could do something about if she wished but did she want to? She’d had a month to debate her choice to leave him behind, and now in the cold light of day it she saw it to be the correct one.

She had shown no mercy to the cult leader and the gang members. Mark was right. It was in her nature to be utterly ruthless. Mark needed someone who was compassionate and caring. Someone who he could love as much as they loved him. As much as it hurt Anne to admit she wasn’t that person. Sure she cared deeply about the people she loved, but there was a ruthless and vicious side of her that she hated and knew Mark did too. Whatever he might feel at the moment she knew that when he found out about her activities then the whole thing would blow up again. For a while she had considered not telling him, but a relationship with secrets was no relationship at all. The gene sequencer telling her that the sample had been successfully analyzed distracted her thoughts. ‘No rest for the wicked’ Anne thought as she studied the print out from the sequencer. She did however allow herself a smile at the results. The evidence that she was right was now irrefutable.

o—o—o—

For the next two days Kat, Matthew, Alex, Cathline and John hoped and prayed as they had never done before. The only response was another 10% increase in the amount of work the bio support systems had to do just to keep Elizabeth’s body alive. For Kat this was the final confirmation that she had been wrong and it hit her hardest of all. Her daughter was dead in all but a signature on a page. Now came the hardest day of all. Kat had finished dressing in a dark black dress, and had tied her long black hair up into a bun. Matthew, John and Alex were dressed in black suits and dark ties and Cathline too was wearing a newly purchased long flowing black dress. All five of them got into a limousine to take them from the hotel to the hospital. On Matthew’s request the media had stayed away, a gesture for which Kat was grateful. This was a private moment, a moment when they would flip the switch to end their daughters life.

Inside the limousine Kat allowed herself to cry and was immediately comforted by Matthew and Alex. "When the time comes. I want to do it. I was the one who bought her into the world so it’s fitting I should be the one to take her out of it," Kat said, choking.

"Ok," Matthew agreed. In a way he was glad Kat wanted to switch the machines off. It was not a task he had been looking forward to, and besides, Kat had lived these last few weeks in denial and this would help her.

"Should we have gone for two more weeks?" Kat sobbed into Matthew’s arms.

Gathering all his courage Matthew drew Kat closer into his shoulder and stroked her hair. "Kat, my love. You’ll always want two more weeks. We have to let her go," Tears formed in Matthew’s eyes. That was the hardest thing he’d ever have to say. He so wanted those extra weeks of slender hope, he would trade his life for those weeks but he knew that it was time to let go or he might never.

"I know," Kat said, and broke into deep gasping sobs of tears.

"Mom, We’re here for you. For each of us," John said softly. He hated to see his mother this way.

They sat in silence for the rest of the journey. Each of them wrapped up in their own thoughts and memories. Dr Atkins and Dr Roberts, the neuro-consultant met them at the door of the IC ward and they were then escorted to a side briefing room.

"We’ve got the papers for you to sign," Dr Atkins said softly. Inside his heart was breaking as well. This remarkable family had stuck together for the past six weeks, and now it was time for their greatest trial of all. Dr Atkins put two copies of the forms on the table and continued to say, "As Elizabeth’s parents you both have to sign a copy of the forms. I then need to countersign them as Elizabeth’s doctor and then both of them need to be witnessed by Cathline and Dr Roberts.

Sniffing back tears Matthew said, "Thanks," and took the forms from the table. He gave one copy to Kat and kept one for himself. Matthew read the form carefully and flipped the page over and then re-read it once more. He tried to keep calm and composed, but before he could sign a deep sob came from his throat and he had to force it back down again. He took a deep breath, and signed and dated the form.

For her part Kat had read the form twice as well, studying every single line of text. She glanced in Matthew’s direction and taking a deep breath, as if steeling herself against a great trial, and signed her copy of the form. As soon as she had done that she broke down into an inconsolable mass of tears and sobs.

Matthew immediately moved over to comfort Kat, his face full of tears. Cathline walked over and placed a hand on Kat’s shoulder. She bent down and whispered in Kat’s ear "Kat, it’s time."

Matthew handed the forms back to Dr Atkins for counter signatures and then had to help Kat to her feet and clutching onto Matthew she walked into the room where Elizabeth lay. One by one Cathline, Alex and John filtered in and stood around the bed. Matthew took hold of Elizabeth’s hand and held it to his chest. Alex took hold of her other hand and kissed it gently.

"Here is the master switch," Dr Atkins said pointing to a large red switch on the side of one of the machines.

Kat nodded and moved over towards it.

Dr Atkins pointed to another row of switches each colored a red color "First, you flip these three switches in the order up, down, up. Count to ten and then flip them down, up, down. You then have 30 seconds to flip the main switch before it resets again."

Kat turned to Matthew and cried "Mat, I can’t do this. I thought I could but how can I?"

Matthew nodded in sympathy. He felt exactly the same, but it had to be done. "Kat. I’ll do it. She’d want one of us to rather than a doctor."

Kat tearfully agreed but then changed her mind "We’ll both do it.

You do the three and I’ll do the last one."

Matthew sighed. "Ok what’s the time?"

Dr Atkins checked his watch "It’s 13:17".

Matthew slowly walked up to the bio support system and breathed in. He moved the switches up, down and then up and counted to ten. He was grateful for the gap, as it allowed him time to compose himself. Finally he reversed the order and a voice said "Warning. Shutdown protocols activated."

Matthew moved back to the bed, took hold of Elizabeth hand and held it tight once more.

Her hand shaking, as if she was pushing against an invisible wall, Kat’s finger rested on the master switch. Images of her giving birth to Elizabeth, of Elizabeth starting to walk and talk and then telling her of her engagement to Alex flashed thru Kat’s mind. She nearly pulled back but digging deep into her last reserves of courage she flipped the master switch down.

There were ten warning bleeps and within a matter of moments all the monitors went flatline. Elizabeth’s chest stopped rising and falling and a sense of calm descended on the room. Kat screamed in despair and sadness. At the same time Cathline, Alex and John cried deep, gasping sobs

Matthew clutched hold of Elizabeth’s hand even tighter, bent down and kissed Elizabeth’s face and whispered "Goodbye little mite," and gently put Elizabeth’s arm back down on the bed. He then joined Kat in weeping for his daughter.

A few minutes later; after waiting for the initial tide of grief to end Dr Atkins asked "If you’ll just sign here Mr Stephens. This is the formal death certificate. If you don’t mind we’ll need to take the body now for organ harvesting. Elizabeth has saved many lives, it’s what she would have wanted."

Kat was still in shock and weeping "I killed her!" over and over again. John and Cathline were attending to Kat and Alex just stood over Elizabeth’s body in shock. He pressed his finger to his lips and put it on Elizabeth’s head. He took a deep breath and whispered "Bye Kiddo. Wait for me won’t you?" He bent down and gently kissed Elizabeth’s exposed forehead. He then put his mouth to her ear and whispered, "All of my heart, forever."

Matthew surveyed the aftermath around him and took the form, signed it and gave it back to Dr Atkins.

"You mind if I stay with her?" Kat asked.

"We’re only taking her down the corridor. You’ll see her again soon," Doctor Atkins said softly.

"I just want one more look at her," Kat sobbed.

Matthew took hold of Kat’s arm in comfort. "Kat, my love, you’ll always want one more look. Let her go."

Deep down Kat knew Matthew was right, Elizabeth was gone.

o—o—o—

In her dorm in Tel-Aviv Anne checked her watch as the time flipped over to 16:18. From the news reports she had read Matthew and Kat had just switched off Elizabeth’s life support. She so desperately wanted to be there. but knew that she would give herself away by the emotion she would be unable to contain within herself.

She had wished a lot of things on Matthew and Kat over the years but not what they had just been thru. That thought gave her a glimmer of hope. Deianeria had shown no remorse at what she had fantasized about raping and murdering her own family, whereas she at the height of her fury had fallen short of that horrific act. Deianeria took sexual pleasure from killing whereas she had only killed when needed. It was a fine line but one that gave her a slender thread of comfort.

Anne tried to get back to some work but her thoughts kept wandering to the IC ward in that English hospital. She knew what was going on but she so wanted to be there it hurt. To try and take her mind of events, she turned back to her PDA and started the final read thru of her paper.

o—o—o—

Mark’s PDA bleeped a few times, which had the effect of waking him up from his sleep. Wearily he got out of bed and walked to the table where the PDA was still beeping away. "What now," he muttered.

"PDA read mail message to me please," Mark said sleepily. It was too late now. He was up and awake, and no amount of counting sheep would rectify that. This had better be good.

The PDA read. "To Mark.Andrews@Haverford.edu. From immigration@israel.nation Dear Mr Andrews. You request for a travel visa has been approved. Please note that future travel to restricted countries may revoke this Visa or lead to deportation from Israel. We hope you will enjoy your stay."

Mark shouted, "YES!" He was now only a few days away from meeting Anne again. He just hoped she’d still be there when he arrived. His first reaction was to call Wills and tell him but then he remembered that it was still first thing in the morning. Instead he readied himself by sending his newly acquired visa number to the airline to finally confirm his place on the flight. It would take a while to get confirmation thru so in the meantime he walked into his kitchen, hunted around for a clean cup, and started to make himself a cup of strong coffee.

 

o—o—o—

Hand in hand Matthew and Kat walked down the long corridor of St Luke’s hospital as they had done every day for the past six weeks. Every step was an effort, but in a way they both felt relief from the ongoing torment of waiting and hoping to no avail. Now at least there was an end and they could begin to rebuild their shattered lives. Later on that day they would hold a press conference, and Matthew admitted that he wished he’d never arranged it. But people had to be thanked for their support and grief made public. It would help all of them come to terms with what had just happened. Cathline, Alex and John had gone on ahead while they stayed behind to sort the remaining legal details out. Elizabeth’s official time of death was 13:18GMT, which was just as Kat wanted it to be.

Another thing that brought them a little comfort was the fact that Elizabeth had had her family with her when she had died. It would have been so much worse for them had she died alone and terrified in that farmhouse a few weeks back. True it was small comfort, but at this time they took any that they could. In a few hours time Elizabeth’s body would be taken to the local funeral directors for preparation and from there be flown to their island in the Maldives for burial.

They met the rest of the family at the hospital reception desk. Alex was sitting down on a nearby chair and was being comforted by Cathline. John was sitting next to them, staring into space in shock. There was no smile from Cathline as she saw Matthew and Kat walk in, just a simple nod of the head as if to say ‘Is everything sorted out?’

"We just want to wait and thank Dr Atkins and the rest of the staff who looked after Elizabeth," Kat said softly.

"We know. We were told they’d be out in a few minutes and let us know how many lives Elizabeth would save," John said as stoically as he could muster.

"Anyone want a coffee?" Matthew asked. He just needed a short break away to compose himself some more.

There were various orders thrown at Matthew, and in his shocked state he had trouble remembering them. After another slower repetition of the order, he went off in search of a vending machine.

It took Matthew a few minutes to find an old looking vending machine, but at least it was still working. He fumbled in his pockets for some change with which to buy the drinks. Carefully reciting the orders he primed the machine with change and the machine proceeded to pour the alleged coffee into small plastic cups. He used the last few euro-cents to buy a small disposable tray and walked back to the reception.

He knew something wasn’t quite right when he heard excited voices from where Kat and the others had been. Dr Atkins and other medical staff were surrounding Kat and were looking to be explaining something. He caught a glimpse of Kat’s face. She was smiling for the first time in weeks!

Matthew rushed over as best he could to see that the commotion was. He quickly put the tray of drinks onto the receptionist’s counter, and pushed his way thru to be alongside a joyous Kat. "Kat, what’s going on?

"A miracle!" Kat said and gave Matthew a large hug.

Matthew returned the hug but was still confused. "Kat, please tell me."

"Elizabeth’s started breathing again!" Kat exclaimed, and gave Matthew a large kiss.

"How?" Matthew exclaimed and returned Kat’s kiss.

"That’s what Dr Atkins was trying to explain when you walked in," Cathline replied.

Dr Atkins shrugged his shoulders "Ok, for Mr Stephen’s benefit I’ll start again. As you know we took Elizabeth’s body down to remove the organs for transplant. We were just about to make the first incision, when a colleague noticed her chest gently moving up and down. We immediately took pulse and respiration measurements and although not normal were slowing rising. Straight away we put her on a ventilator to help her out but she didn’t seem to need it. Now she’s gone in for some tests to see the extent if any of brain damage and to find out what the real picture is. I can’t explain this at all."

"How long before we know?" John asked.

Dr Atkins checked his watch, "The brain scans will take about an hour, the internal ones should be done in the next few minutes."

"So is she going to wake up?" Alex asked hurriedly.

"From the initial results I don’t see why not. But there could be significant brain damage. The only thing I can tell you is that she is breathing normally and on her own."

"When can we see her?" Matthew asked. The turn around in events still had him stunned and overjoyed.

Dr Aktins thought for a few moments, "Soon. You know where the briefing room is. I suggest you go, take your drinks and wait until we have some news for you."

"Deal!" Kat broke into a smile and shook Dr Atkin’s hand.

When they were in the privacy of the briefing room Kat allowed herself a few tears of joy. She KNEW Elizabeth was still alive! Somehow, deep down in herself she had known. "She’s alive Matthew. I don’t know how come, but thank God she is!"

A multi-way conversation ensued with everyone exclaiming their joy, but puzzlement as to the reason for the sudden upturn in Elizabeth. About an hour later Dr Atkins and a neuro-consultant walked in. Matthew noticed that Dr Atkins was holding a large brown envelope under his arm. "What’s the news?" Alex said excitedly.

Dr Atkins took two large photographs from the envelope and placed them on a nearby table. "To say I am stunned is an understatement. From the scans we took earlier on today it looks as though Elizabeth’s lungs and heart have completely healed themselves, and there is no sign of internal scarring or bleeding. She still has a smashed rib but that’s not life threatening."

"And brain damage?" Kat asked hesitantly.

"This is the confusing part. I’ll hand you over to Dr Renton here who will try and explain," Dr Atkins indicated to the neuro-consultant who nodded in recognition.

"Ok, this plate here is of the brain scan we took when Elizabeth was first brought in," Dr Renton said indicating to the left hand side photograph, "If you notice this small dark area here. This is some kind of disorder, but we can’t be sure without further study."

Kat knew what it was. She’d seen that mark a number of times before. But she didn’t say anything.

"Now on this plate," Dr Renton pointed to the right hand photograph. "There is no mark at all. Whatever disorder had been in place is no longer there!"

Matthew was staggered. "Are you telling me that somehow Elizabeth’s body has repaired it’s self and cured this brain disorder?"

Dr Renton nodded, "That’s what I’m telling you. My best guess is that her body was using everything it could to repair the damage, and that’s why she needed the bio support systems more and more. I’m aware of her unusual origins. Is it possible Dr Bexley gave her some kind of enhanced healing ability when she created her? That’s the only reason I can think of because as it stands that’s the only way this was possible."

"I’ve no idea what Dr Bexley did to her before she implanted her in me. Whatever it was we all owe her one," Kat said softly.

"So when will she wake up?" Alex asked again.

"She’s sleeping peacefully now. Her body has gone thru massive trauma, but she’ll be fine. She’s still in a side ward on her own so you’ll have some privacy. Because she’s had no activity for a number of weeks she’ll need to gradually build her strength up before we can move her. Good job she looked after herself as this has helped her enormously."

"Is she off the machines?" John asked.

Dr Atkins looked at a concerned John and said "She’s still connected but that’s purely precautionary. If all goes well we’ll disconnect her tomorrow."

"Can we see her?" Matthew asked excitedly.

"Sure, Now we’ve finished the tests. Try not to wake her just yet though, so it’ll have to be one at a time." Dr Atkins replied.

"Me first," Kat demanded.

o—o—o—

The next morning it was Alex’s turn to see Elizabeth. The previous afternoon they had all quietly filtered in one at a time and paid their respects to the now sleeping Elizabeth. Her deathly gray pallor at had gone, and although she looked far from her normal glowing self she was definitely better than she had been for some time. The get well feelings they shared with Elizabeth were muted, as they dare not wake her. Alex had been dying to give Elizabeth a hug, but had to hold back. As he walked into the side room he noticed with great relief that she had been disconnected from the bio support systems, and that for the first time a plastic breather mask didn’t cover her face, and that she was breathing freely.

Alex sat down on the chair next to Elizabeth. He’d just met Matthew on his way out and he’d told her that Elizabeth was still fast asleep. Alex adjusted his chair and leaned forward. "Well Kiddo you always wanted to get one up on me, and I must admit you’ve got me beat this time. You had me going for a while there," he whispered, not wanting to wake Elizabeth.

From the corner of his eye he noticed a slight movement of Elizabeth’s arm. It seemed to be more of a twitch than a conscious effort but it was the first time Elizabeth had moved in over six weeks. "Elizabeth?" Alex asked. His voice was full of hope.

There was no reply but Elizabeth’s muscle’s on her face twitched.

"Hey kiddo," Alex queried. He tried his best not to let his euphoria overwhelm Elizabeth.

A quiet, almost silent whisper replied, "I told you not to call me Kiddo."

Alex leapt up and gave Elizabeth a hug. "I missed you!"

To Alex’s dismay and puzzlement Elizabeth turned away from him. "No Alex please, Where am I?" she asked.

"Hospital. You were shot!" Alex explained. He saw to his relief that Elizabeth had opened her eyes and was now starting to focus on the room around her. How he’d missed her blue-gray eyes, sparkling full of life and intelligence. He’d have swapped his own life just to look at them again and now they were looking at him in deep regret and sadness. But why?

"Shot?"

"Shhh, rest," Alex said and tried to kiss Elizabeth but again she moved away.

"No Alex. It wouldn’t be right. Where’s Mom and Dad?"

‘Wouldn’t be right?’ What the hell was Elizabeth talking about?

Alex decided against his feelings that it was better to let it drop.

"They’ll be here soon. I’ll call and tell them you’re awake. I’ll go if you want me to," Alex said. He didn’t want to leave, but Elizabeth looked so tired.

"Tell them I love them. Alex, please go and be with them. I’m so tired." With that the blue-gray eyes closed as if closing the conversation.

Alex was upset. His initial joy and jubilation had evaporated as quickly as it had arose. Why had Elizabeth been so cold towards him? Didn’t she love him anymore? These were questions he’d need the answers to quickly, but only when Elizabeth was ready to talk. In the meantime Alex stood up and once he was outside the hospital called Cathline on his PDA.

Alex only had to wait a few minutes and soon spotted Cathline, John, Kat and Matthew walking from the hospital car lot. He ran towards them and shared what had happened with them. In all of this Cathline was unusually subdued, but Alex put it down to a mixture of exhaustion and relief.

"So she’s gone back to sleep?" Kat asked.

"Yeah. Look why don’t we go to hospital restaurant for a coffee? We’ll give her an hour or so before we look in again. It was odd but she doesn’t remember being shot!" Alex replied.

Cathline reminded Alex, "She’s still in shock. She may be awake, but she’s not better."

"I guess."

o—o—o—

After spending two hours drinking tasteless and tepid coffee they decided it was time to see how Elizabeth was. Alex was relieved to see Elizabeth awake and sitting up in her bed. On seeing Matthew and Kat, Elizabeth broke into a huge smile and whispered "Mom, Dad, John, Auntie Cathline!"

Kat struggled to fight back her tears of joy and she towards Elizabeth and gave her a hug. Elizabeth returned it, albeit weaker. "Mom you came!"

"Try keeping me away. Elizabeth you gave us such a scare. Are you ok?" Kat asked. She felt the tears start to form again but blinked them back.

"Just A little tired, that’s all. What happened to me?" Alex told me I was shot but I don’t remember it at all."

"It’s ok. it’ll come back," Kat comforted Elizabeth.

Elizabeth’s face dropped a little when she looked at Alex, "Alex would you mind finding a nurse for me. I could do with some more water. Actually an OJ would be better."

Glad to be noticed Alex perked up, "Sure."

Elizabeth waited until Alex had left the room. She reached over to her left hand and with a little tugging removed her engagement ring. She carefully placed it on the tray in front of her. "When Alex gets back I want you to give this to him."

Cathline was shocked. She glanced around at the others and they were just as shocked as she was. Kat even more so.

"Why?" Kat stammered.

"I think you know why. All of you do!" Elizabeth sneered.

Kat looked at Elizabeth with concern, "Honestly we don’t! When we last saw you, you couldn’t wait to get married! What’s changed? We don’t mind if you have changed your mind. It’s much better that you do this now if you have to, but we’re just staggered that you’d call it off. Alex was there with you for fifteen or twenty hours at a stretch. He adores you Elizabeth."

"I know and that’s what makes it so hard. But I can’t marry him, not now, not ever!" Tears formed in Elizabeth’s eyes.

"Why? Cathline asked.

Elizabeth shot Cathline a murderous stare, "You know why, don’t you! Angela was the one who was holding me hostage. She told me everything!"

"We know about Angela, she’s dead. You shot her when trying to escape," Matthew stated softly. Why was Elizabeth doing this to herself and Alex? Matthew knew she loved Alex dearly so why was she ending it?

Elizabeth looked puzzled, "I didn’t shoot anyone, and how could I escape? I was tied to a chair! Anyway I’m not letting you off the hook. Cathline you KNEW about this but didn’t tell me WHY?" Elizabeth voice was deadly serious.

Cathline went as white as a sheet. All the color drained from her face and she wished the ground would open up and swallow her.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Matthew demanded, "Cathline what’s she talking about?"

Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed and she glared at Cathline in fury. "You never told them did you? I’m surprised they never guessed, but its not the kind of question that you’d ask is it?"

"Cathline, What the hell is she talking about?" Kat demanded.

Cathline said nothing but her face was like stone.

Elizabeth once again gave Cathline a hard look. A look of betrayal and heartbreak "The reason why I can’t marry Alex, no matter how much I love him is because he’s my half brother!"

There was a crash from the doorway. Alex had just dropped the glass of OJ he’d got for Elizabeth.

Alex was more than stunned. Half brother? Not Marry him? What in hell was Elizabeth talking about? He felt as if he’d just had his heart ripped out. All he managed to say is "What?"

Cathline turned away from Elizabeth and the rest of them. Inside she felt an awful combination of guilt and despair. She sighed deeply before turning around to face Elizabeth once more. This was going to be hard. "She’s right, in a way. Kat, you’re Alex’s father."

"Huh?" John said.

Alex’s face turned to stone. How was this possible? He’d been told that his father was killed in the Guild war, that he had been conceived when Cathline was in Osman’s dungeon. What the fuck was going on?

Cathline sat down on the nearby chair and took a deep breath. This was going to take some explaining, "Kat you remember when you were in Salah’s body?"

Kat nodded, "How could I forget? Uck, all hairy and square and as for having a dick, well don’t get me started on that one!" Kat was feeling deeply confused, even hurt, and was using humor to try and hide her feelings.

"Stop trying to use humor to get around things mom," Elizabeth whispered. Already she was feeling exhausted, but she needed to get this out in the open.

Kat whirled around and snapped at Elizabeth "Hey!"

Cathline looked up at her stunned friends and then turned to an angry looking Alex "Alex what I told you was true, to a point. The real Salah was killed in the Guild war. You are his son. You share his DNA, his noble spirit and everything that made him unique. I was imprisoned in Osman’s dungeon and Kat came to me in as Salah and was forced to make love to me. Alex, you were conceived then."

"Why didn’t you tell us?" Matthew demanded. How in hell had Cathline kept this quiet?

Cathline knew she was in for a hard time and immediately went on the offensive, "Because in reality Alex isn’t Kat’s son. Sure she performed the act, but it’s not her DNA, not her essence that Alex shares and has. Alex is no more her son than Elizabeth is her biological daughter! Alex is MY son. I had the pain of bringing him into the world. I fed him and raised him to be the wonderful young man he is now. Kat, you made love to me and you know what? I still cling to that moment. Kat, it’s one of the most precious times I ever had. It didn’t seem it at the time, but a new wonderful life came from it! I didn’t tell you at first because I simply didn’t know I was pregnant. It wasn’t until I started to show that I suspected anything. My body was so messed up with all the stress of the whole Fury thing that I’d missed a few months before anyway. "

"Why didn’t you tell me later on?" Kat asked. Alex nodded. He was going to ask the same thing.

"Because I didn’t and that’s that! I wanted Alex for myself. Yes it was as selfish as hell, but I didn’t want to share him. He’s the only bit of light I have in my life, other than you guys. When I see him I see what I could have had with John and that makes me selfish. Kat what would you have done if I’d have told you?"

Kat was still in shock from the whole thing "Dunno. I’m still trying to get my head around it. I’d have probably have wanted to help out in bringing him up."

Cathline was still on the offensive "Which you did anyway, just as I did Elizabeth! Alex I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the complete truth, but what would you have done if you had known?"

Alex was too upset to make much sense. He had searched for months for his father, and his mother had sat there and let him do it. He had poured his heart and his soul into the search, and its negative result had been devastating to him "My search. You sat there and let me look for my father, and all the while he was Kat?" Another realization hit him "That’s why Elizabeth can’t marry me. We’re brother and sister!"

"Whose son am I?" John asked. He was trying to lighten the tone. The last thing his sister needed was a full on row.

Kat shot John a ‘shut it’ look and proceeded "But you’re not Elizabeth’s half brother, are you Alex? Elizabeth is Dr Bexley’s daughter not mine. Matthew and I are adoptive parents not the biological ones."

"What about the law?" Matthew asked.

"Fuck the law. I love Elizabeth. She’s only just come back to us, and here we are bitching about what’s past. Kat you were a wonderful ‘father’ to me. Mom what you did was selfish and it’s going to take me a while to forgive you for it. I still don’t understand why you kept this a secret and I hope it’s for a damn good reason. But Elizabeth is the main priority here. Let’s redraw the family tree when she’s better!" Alex snapped.

Kat felt guilty for dragging this out. Alex was right. Elizabeth was the top priority. "I’m sorry. It’s just a shock that’s all."

"Can I speak to Alex alone?" Elizabeth asked quietly.

Cathline ignored Elizabeth’s request. She still wanted to justify her actions to the rest of them, and hadn’t heard Elizabeth’s voice. "Maybe I should have told you."

"Damn right!" Matthew exclaimed.

Cathline took a deep breath and continued. This was getting very ugly very quickly, "But I had some good reasons at the time. This all happened twenty years ago, and after Alex was born, well it just didn’t seem right to disrupt and jeopardize our friendship over it. I love you guys more than anything. You are my family and I didn’t want to risk that."

"You underestimate how we feel about you Cathline, if you thought that. Hell, we’ve gone thru worse than this and still come out friends," Kat said softly.

Cathline put her head down, so her long blonde hair covered her face. She felt so ashamed of what she had done and what she was putting her best friends thru, "Kat, I’m sorry. What else can I say? Alex, I’m even more sorry. I should have told you but I thought, in my insecurity and loneliness, keeping this a secret was the best way of still keeping you all as friends."

Cathline started to cry. "Kat, I’m so lonely it hurts. It’s ironic isn’t it? I’m the most beautiful fifty year old on the planet, and yet I’m alone. John was my soul mate and he’s dead! I didn’t know what I had in him, did I? So I played around with Dr Bexley, convinced myself that I was in love with her because, in my mind, maybe John wasn’t the one. Then when John was killed I latched onto Kat, because as a friend she IS my soul mate, but you’re so in love with Matthew I never stood a chance."

Cathline paused and wiped away a tear from her eye, "I told myself that I’d wait for John. That, because of what I did to him I owed it to him to wait until I met him again. But it’s so hard. I know I was wrong to hide things away from you, but I hope you can understand that I was too fearful to risk throwing away my last remaining family."

Kat walked over and gave Cathline a hug, "Oh you silly thing. We ARE family. You, John, Alex, Elizabeth, Matthew, and me are all in the same family. Sure we’re not all related by blood, but family is more than just flesh and blood. Family is relationship, trust, giving of yourself and expecting nothing back in return. That and a whole lot more as well! There’s no need to feel lonely Cathline, we’re here for you."

Cathline put her hand on Kat’s "You always did know how to sort me out didn’t you?"

Kat smiled, "Friends?"

Cathline smiled and rested her head on Kat’s arm, "Soul mates."

"Sorry to break this up. But I really need to speak to Alex," Elizabeth stated. She was glad that the initial rift had been healed but she also knew that there was a long way to go. But as Kat had so eloquently remarked, they were family, and true families endured the most savage of storms.

"Come on guys. Alex was right, Elizabeth needs her rest and we’re just in the way," John said. He admitted to himself that he was a little overwhelmed by the news that had just been announced, but he knew that he had to stand with his parents and Cathline in this. They would work it out, they always did. This one would take a little time to resolve but the first tentative steps towards healing had been taken.

"Come on ‘soul mate’," Kat said to Cathline with a smile, and helped Cathline to her feet.

Cathline gave a smile and the group walked out, leaving Alex and Elizabeth by themselves.

o—o—o—

Alex walked over to where Cathline had been sitting, sighed deeply and asked, "You look exhausted. Want me to come back?"

"It’s ok," Elizabeth said quietly.

"What did they do to you?" Alex asked quietly.

Elizabeth thought back to the horrific revelations that Angela had assaulted her with. "Do you hate who I am?"

"Pardon?" Alex asked.

"Angela, she told the world who I was didn’t she?" Elizabeth said quietly.

Alex nodded, "Somebody did. BUT it doesn’t matter. That’s old news now. You being in that coma spared you of the full spotlight of the media. You didn’t hear what I said to you the first day I found out, did you?"

"What was that?" Elizabeth asked. Had Angela been right? Was any chance of a normal life over and done with? Alex was right about one thing. Being in a coma had spared her an enormous amount of hurt and questions from the media. Sure, the subject would come up again, but the initial sting had been removed.

"Umm let me think," Alex said. The memory of pouring his heart out to an almost dead Elizabeth was still fresh in his mind.

But now he had had the biggest shock of all. She no longer wanted to be his wife. He had really thought their love was stronger than that. He had poured out so much to her over the past six weeks that it had all merged into one. Then it came to him "I think it went something like this ‘I don’t know if you can feel this ring still on your finger but it’s a sign of our love for each other. It tells the world we are meant to be. I don’t care whose cells you came from or what DNA you have, I just want you back with me. Kat and Matthew showed me and you that love can cross any boundaries, outlast the fiercest fury and endure the greatest pain.’"

Elizabeth was silent. Deep down she still loved him but no matter her feelings for him—Alex was still her half brother. They shared the same parent. "Do you still feel like that?" she asked.

Alex looked into Elizabeth’s blue-gray eyes. He felt more in love with her than ever, so why didn’t she love him any more? "More than ever, especially now. Elizabeth I’m still confused. Why don’t you tell me what happened from the start. If you are still up to it that is. The police will be here in a few hours to take a statement so it’ll help you if you tell me."

Elizabeth shuffled herself in the bed, trying to get comfortable. Alex got up and helped her adjust her pillows. Once Alex had sat back down again Elizabeth started to explain.

"I remember walking into my dorm and finding the lights out and not working. I found Angela lying on the floor and called to my PDA to activate the alarm but it didn’t work. I felt myself being grabbed from behind and then it all went black. I’ve no idea how long I was out for but it must have been several hours. I awoke in a room and after a short while I saw a figure walk out from the shadows. Alex, it was Angela. She betrayed me! She was a plant all along. Everything she did, her friendship with me was all a sham."

Alex looked puzzled "For what reason?"

"So that the Children of Bexley could force me to become Dr Bexley," Elizabeth said softly. The torrent of hate, fury and emotion she had felt when Angela was betraying everything she had held dear was still very vivid in her memory.

Alex thought for a few moments, "Because you had the same flaw in your brain as Dr Bexley had? They wanted to get you so angry and upset that it would provoke that flaw."

Elizabeth nodded, "Angela had switched my medicine around and made it impossible for me to take any more. Alex it’s not just that you are my half brother that I can’t marry you, it’s because I’m afraid of what I might do to you!"

Alex thought back to the scan’s he was shown "Don’t be. Somehow the flaw or whatever you call it is gone. We were shown two scans before and after. The after shows no flaw."

Elizabeth’s face screwed up with confusion. "How is that possible?"

Alex shrugged. "The doctors said Dr Bexley might have enhanced your healing ability. Anyway, what in hell did Angela tell you?"

Tears formed in Elizabeth’s eye, "Everything. She pulled my life to shreds, methodically and without remorse. She told me how she’d been trained to do this to me from an early age, forged some entries from Dr Bexley’s diaries, and planted evidence that would seek to confuse me. Alex I did a terrible thing!"

"What’s that?" Alex asked cautiously.

"You remember, I was looking into what really happened to Mom and Dad all those years ago?" Elizabeth said.

"Yeah and I told you not to bother," Alex said.

"I wish I’d have taken that advice. You told me it would lead to fire and pain. How right you were! In my mind I created a simulated Dr Bexley. She would be Dr Bexley in thought, mind, and deed. I gave her a name."

"Deianeria? I thought that was just the name of the project?"

Alex asked.

Elizabeth nodded, "She was more than a project. She was part of me, an alternative personality. That’s why I kept wearing Dr Bexley’s old clothes. I was slowly becoming my image of Dr Bexley. One thing I do know is that Deianeria was utterly evil. Even more so than Dr Bexley ever was. The only word I could use to describe her is demonic. I’m not saying it was supernatural or anything like that, but sometimes when she had returned control to me I would come back into my own mind and feel very aroused as though I’d just had an orgasm. Then afterwards I’d get nightmares of people I loved slowly dying in awful pain and terror. I somehow knew Deianeria would do those things, given the chance. She was so evil Alex. More evil than anything I have ever seen before or since!"

Alex took hold of Elizabeth’s hand for a moment and managed to say "Hey, it’s ok it’s over now," before Elizabeth withdrew it.

Elizabeth gave a wan smile and continued, "When Angela was doing this to me I could feel Deianeria slowly forcing her way into my conscious mind. With each revelation it got stronger and stronger until she finally swamped me. Angela’s last revelation was about you, and how my family had deceived me. I hung on as long as I could, but Deianeria was too strong. The last thing I remember was Deianeria laughing as she took over my mind. Then I woke up here. I’ve no idea who shot me. Angela didn’t even have a gun. Maybe Deianeria tried to escape and forced Angela into shooting me?"

Alex looked worried, "Where is Deianeria now?"

Elizabeth shrugged. "No idea. It’s as though she died when I did. She’s not in my mind anymore. Oh! I’ve just had a thought."

"Which is?" Alex asked.

"If Deianeria is gone and my flaw is cured then she can’t come back. Alex I’m safe!" the relief was evident in her voice. She felt as though a weight had finally been lifted off her. She finally felt free. For six years she had lived with the specter of Dr Bexley, and now it had been exorcised for good. She was a normal person again, maybe even for the first time ever! She had no reason to be afraid anymore. Elizabeth burst out laughing with joy, "Alex I’m free of her. Don’t you see? If she’s gone and I’m cured then I’m free. Alex this is so wonderful!"

Alex wanted to hug Elizabeth but held back, Elizabeth had been politely pushing him away since she’d woken up. Instead he gave a broad grin "Kiddo, that’s wonderful."

Elizabeth’s smile faded, "Alex I love you more deeply than I can say but how can we be married? Even if we tried to the law prevents us."

"Who’s to know?" Alex asked.

Elizabeth turned her face away from Alex, trying to hide the tears that were forming, "I would. I can’t marry you Alex. It’s sick. Brother and sisters can’t and shouldn’t marry."

"I know. I’m still trying to get my head around it. Let me see if I’ve got this right. Ok, Dr Bexley cloned herself, and added a few ‘enhancements’ and put the fertilized egg inside Kat. Correct?"

Elizabeth nodded, "Yep"

"So you are not related by blood to Matthew, Kat and John? Kat was your surrogate mother. Dr Bexley could have put you into anyone but chose Kat right?"

"That’s the way I see it," Elizabeth stated.

"Now when Kat had been turned into Salah she was forced to make love to mom right? From that act I was conceived and mom didn’t notice for a few months."

"That’s what she said," Elizabeth agreed. She could see where this was leading and allowed herself a flicker of hope.

Alex tried to clarify things further. He found it helped him come to terms with what had just gone on. "So when Kat was turned back to her ‘Jasmine’ body then she was no longer related to me by blood. Mom fearing she’d alienate herself from Matthew and Kat etc didn’t tell anyone and made up a story about another Guild agent screwing her."

"Yep." Elizabeth’s glimmer of hope turned into a ray of light that was starting to wipe away her doubts.

"If you aren’t related to Kat, except by adoption and I’m not related to Kat by blood then how in hell can we be brother and sister? We’re not even half brother and sisters. Can’t you see it? The Children of Bexley were wrong! The last thing they told you was a lie designed to release this Deianeria in you and so create their ‘Dr Bexley’."

Elizabeth gave a whoop of joy, "Of course! They didn’t believe in DNA modification. So how could Kat be your dad? Because if he were then Kat’s DNA would need to have been modified to make it happen in the first place! The only way to explain it would be if DNA modification were possible, which they said couldn’t be done! I was in such a confused and angry state that I didn’t notice the lie buried in the truth. The bastards knew it was a lie!"

Alex nodded "Very clever of them wasn’t it? I bet you made their day when you agreed to marry me. That was the key they were looking for."

Elizabeth studied Alex’s face. He looked so tired and sad. The clown was gone, and in his place was someone who had gone thru fire and pain "They were exceptional at deception. Alex you’re right. We’re not brother and sister. I can’t tell you at how much better this makes me feel. "

Alex had a thought, "I’m so happy for you, for us! You know Dr Bexley saved you. Maybe not directly, but her changing you to have this enhanced healing ability saved your life. She gave you every chance she could to live. I think she wanted you to succeed her, be better than her and not to make the same mistakes as she did."

Elizabeth suddenly started crying. The tears were of release and healing rather than of sadness, "Alex you’re right! It seems as though all my life I’ve lived in fear and in denial of who I am. I’m proud to be Dr Bexley’s daughter. When people throw that at me as an insult I’ll take it as a compliment. I was subjected to more emotional pain than Dr Bexley ever was, and yet, thanks to her and my family I’ve survived intact and alive! I will do better than she did! She was an exceptional surgeon and doctor and I’ll be even better! That’s how I’ll repay her. That and this!" Elizabeth reached over to the tray across the bed, picked up her engagement ring and placed it back on her finger.

On seeing Elizabeth put the ring back on Alex stood up and gave Elizabeth a passionate kiss. To his joy she returned it and his spirit soared. They were together again, as they should be, as they were destined to be. He pulled away and said "I’d better go and tell Mom and Dad the wedding’s back on, and you Kiddo need to rest."

Elizabeth glanced down at her engagement ring and gave Alex a smile, "Don’t call me Kiddo."

o—o—o—

A day or so later Mark’s plane touched down at Tel-Aviv airport and he emerged to scorching hot sun. He’d only taken a single large bag with him, as his ticket was a restricted three day return. He had three days to find Anne before he had to return to the US. His first port of call was a small hotel just near the university campus. Not only was it cheap, it was an excellent base from which to try and find Anne. Pushing his baggage cart he hailed a cab, told the cab driver the address, laid back, and tried to unwind. He would have a shower, change and then after a bite to eat go find Anne. Inside he felt empty and lost. A number of times he’d spotted a head of long blonde hair and thought it might have been Anne, but on further investigation it proved not to be. Feeling thoroughly miserable he put his earpiece in his ear and selected a track of music from his PDA.

He’d been listening to some of Anne’s taste in music. It had helped him feel a little closer to her somehow. Thinking back to his trip from the airport and how he had felt these past few weeks he had just the track in mind, "PDA play track 18 personal collection," Mark adjusted the volume in his PDA and listened to the old rock ballad

‘Loneliness is your only friend.

A broken heart that just won’t mend, is the price you pay.

It’s hard to take when love grows old.

The days are long and the nights turn cold, when it fades away.

You hope that she will change her mind, but the days drift on and on. You’ll never know the reason why she’s gone.

Empty rooms, where we learn to live without love.

Empty rooms, where we learn to live without love.

Empty rooms, where we learn to live without love.

You see her face in every crowd.

You hear her voice, but you’re still proud, so you turn away.

You tell yourself that you’ll be strong.

But your heart tells you, this time you’re wrong.

Empty rooms, where we learn to live without love.

Empty rooms, where we learn to live without love.

Empty rooms, where we learn to live without love. ‘

Mark looked outside at the bustling city around him. Would Anne have him back? He didn’t know, but he had to try, otherwise his life would be full of ifs and maybes. He closed his eyes and listened to the end of a long guitar riff.

‘You hope that she will change her mind, but the days drift on and on. You’ll never know the reason why she’s gone.

Empty rooms, where we learn to live without love.

Empty rooms, where we learn to live without love.

Empty rooms, where we learn to live without love.

Empty rooms, where we learn to live without love.’

The cab drew up alongside an old looking hotel. It looked as though it had survived the fires that had ravaged much of Tel-Aviv He took his bag out from the cab, paid the driver and walked inside.

The polite way to describe the hotel was basic. It didn’t have voice activated lighting or even air conditioning, but it did have a bed and an almost clean shower. Mark washed a few hairs from a previous user down the drain and proceeded to unpack.

His most disturbing discovery was a small puddle shaped stain on the green carpet. It looked as though it had been washed several times, but the stain was still visible in broad daylight. Mark knew what the stain was. It could only be one thing. It was the remains of someone who had been killed during the Guild attack twenty odd years ago. Mark didn’t want to think about it, so he put his bag over the stain. At least he wouldn’t have to look at it everytime he walked in. Mark stripped off, ran the shower for a few seconds until he’d got the right temperature and stepped inside.

An hour or so later a freshly groomed Mark stepped out of the hotel and hunted for the cheapest place to eat he could find. Even with Wills’s money this trip would stretch his finances to the limit. He eventually found a McDonalds-King which was about his financial limit and sat down for a Big McKing and fries. After one bite he knew he could still be in Haverford. They all tasted the same wherever you went. He checked his watch. It was 17:00 local time so if Anne was anywhere she would be about to leave the lab. He fished out his PDA, now was the time to try out his new Israeli GPS guidance module. More expensive models of PDA had a global version built in, but he’d spent 200 bucks on this. It would save him time in trying to find his way around Tel-Aviv. "PDA take me to the Life sciences faculty Tel-Aviv University."

The PDA’s screen lit up and a small arrow pointed straight on. A small distance reading showed in the top right. It was 1201 meters away. Cramming his mouth with the remaining part of his burger he set off, following the directions of his PDA.

It took him ten minutes to walk to the right building and strangely there were few students around. Still, he stuffed his PDA in his pocket and went inside. The inside of the faculty was much like the one back at Haverford, but the bright late afternoon sun made it seem much brighter than the halogen lit interior he was used to.

Eventually he found a notice board and was studying it, trying to find a class or a room where Anne might be found. Somebody tapped him on the shoulder, which had the effect of making him jump out of skin. A tall but elderly man stood in front of him. The man’s bright but intelligent looking eyes studied Mark for a few seconds before the man asked, "Can I help you?" The man had a heavy Israeli accent and it took a few seconds for Mark to understand it.

Mark composed himself and said, "I’m a close friend of an American student called Anne Baxter. I’m trying to find her, do you know where she is?"

The man looked at Mark and weighed him up. Deciding he looked ok the man took out his PDA, and spoke to it in Hebrew. Mark waited a few moments, hoping that the man would tell him where Anne was.

The man gave Mark another look and said "She’s out with the research ship ‘Easu’ She’ll be back in two days. Have you tried mailing her?"

"Yes I have. Where’s she due to dock?" Mark asked. He tried to contain his excitement. Anne was here!

The man consulted his PDA, "The ‘Esau’ is due to dock at Bat

Yam harbor at 10:30am"

To the man’s surprise Mark shook his hand, and thanked him. Mark ran out of the building. Two days was nothing, he would be there waiting for her when she came back. He just hoped his money lasted that long. It would be a close call but he hoped he had enough time to win her back before he had to fly out.

o—o—o—

Anne sat on a deckchair, on the stern of the research ship ‘Easu’. It felt good to be back on the ocean again. She’d missed the freedom these last few months and although the ‘Esau’ still had no re-breathers, it didn’t matter, she could dive and that was enough for her to start to relax. She’d just finished the final proof read and now, finally her paper was complete, the evidence and proof were safely stored in a lab on campus. Even if that were destroyed, she still had documentation that proved she was right. Anne reached down, picked up a glass full of cold orange juice, and looked out to sea. The sun was starting to set and tonight they would be heading back to Tel-Aviv. She would wait until she had access to a secure land based portal before sending her paper in. That way she would have an audit trail proving she had written and sent it.

As she watched the bright orange sun cast rippling flames of light over the surface of the sea she wondered how Elizabeth was doing. Either her plan had worked or she was dead. It was as simple as that. Matthew and Kat would never know it was her that had both shot and saved Elizabeth. In some ways she wanted to tell them, share their relief and excitement, but she had vowed to stay away if she could. Maybe she would visit them as Anne Baxter in a few years time, just to see if they were all ok. She gave a smile. That might be fun. Play cat and mouse with Kat, dropping subtle hints but not actually letting on. Anne pulled out her PDA from under her chair and got it to search the newsnets.

A few seconds later a list of hits came up on screen. Anne selected the top one and a report from the European new agency displayed the story of Elizabeth’s miraculous recovery.

‘Doctors treating Elizabeth Stephens are still both shocked and puzzled at her remarkable recovery.’

Anne gave a wide grin. She done it! She read on.

‘Ms Stephen’s wounds have almost completely healed and furthermore a previously undetected genetic flaw in her brain had also been cured.’

That should keep Heinlein happy. With no flaw there was no risk of Elizabeth relapsing into that monster Deianeria. If the flaw were still in place Elizabeth would still be in mortal danger. Anne read on

‘The doctors treating Ms Stephens have reached the conclusion that her remarkable recovery was cause by a previously unknown genetic modification to her metabolism and recovery systems at the time she was cloned from the late Dr Bexley."

Anne gave a wry smile, "Right person wrong reason," she whispered to herself. Anne finished reading the rest of the news report

‘Ms Stephens will spend several months convalescing and in physiotherapy, but it said to be in good spirits and looking forward to her marriage to her fiancée Mr. Alex Richards. A date for the wedding has not yet been set, but it is thought to be almost certainly after she has completed her medical degree."

Anne’s heart soared. Elizabeth was still going to marry Alex. That was wonderful news! She thought back to her musings on visiting Matthew and Kat. She would visit them on the eve of Elizabeth’s wedding. How could she stay away from that one? Anne went back to the main news search list on her PDA. One entry caught her eye it read ‘Salah autopsy is the final nail in the Children of Bexley coffin.’

‘An autopsy of the Guild leader Salah has revealed rock solid proof that DNA modification is indeed possible. This comprehensively defeats the theories of the ailing Children of Bexley cult, whose main evidence was the lack of proof that DNA modification was possible. The Guild, who had arranged for the body to be exhumed, stated that it was Elizabeth Stephens who had instigated the request some months before.’

Anne stopped reading "The little minx," she said to herself with some admiration. Elizabeth had done precisely what she would have done to kill the cult for good. Such a request wouldn’t come cheap though. Anne read the rest of the article.

‘The effect on the already declining membership of the Bexley cult has been catastrophic. With their leader missing and disgraced, and now this, it seems it can only be a matter of months before they are forced to close. Matthew and Jane Stephens have declined to comment on this matter but it must come as some relief to them to know that their adopted daughter is now safe once more.’

Anne gave another smile of admiration. "Take after your mom don’t you. Very neat Elizabeth, very neat indeed," Anne picked up her glass of orange juice and raised it in a toast "To you Elizabeth."

Anne stretched out her long legs and looked back out to sea once more. The light was starting to dim and the fiery orange glow of the sunset had faded into a deep, dark orange. Reading about Elizabeth had lifted her spirits. There were times when she had thought Elizabeth wouldn’t make it, but now she had it made her feel so much better. Her thoughts turned inwards. She had been so busy these past few weeks she had had little time to feel lonely or even introspective. Her work had been everything to her, and now it was complete a feeling of anticlimax was starting to set in. Sure a few days from now when people had had time to read and digest her paper all hell would break loose in the fields of marine biology, ecology and genetics. It wouldn’t do much for the mining companies stock either!

If her work life was looking up her personal life was still in tatters. Images of the cult leader, his intestines exposed, swearing at her in pain, came into her mind. She had been right not to wait for Mark. He didn’t deserve her. Nobody did! Why was it she could save the life of others but not when it came to her own?

o—o—o—

Mark waited on the quayside for the sight of the ‘Easu’ coming into dock. He had no idea what it looked like, but he guessed he’d know when he saw the name on the side. He checked his watch. She was half an hour late in docking, but there was still no sign of her. He was down to his last twenty dollars in US currency, and his credit limit was all but gone. If Anne didn’t show by midday he would have to leave without her. He tried to relax and enjoy the sunshine and the gentle ‘clink click’ sounds of the boats in the harbor, but he was finding it hard to concentrate. Being broke in a foreign city was much worse than being broke at home.

He had managed to see a little of the city during his stay. The museum and memorial for the victims of the Guild attack was free and open for all. It was a heartbreaking place to visit. The only piece of film footage that existed was the well known shot of a loud explosion in the sky and the sudden appearance of a fine mist. A few seconds later the camera had panned to people on the street slowing starting to dissolve and scream in pain as the genetic warhead took effect. Ten seconds later the camera was dropped as the person holding the camera succumbed to the effects of the warheads. The Camera had continued to film the carnage and remains of the population was killed around it. Somehow the footage had survived the fires that had ravaged most of the city, and now this was the only record of the attack.

Mark had read about how the heroic nation of Israel had responded with a daring nuclear strike on Cairo and then in an act of divine forgiveness had held back from destroying the Arab nations. There were still trade and travel embargos between Israel and Egypt, which was why he’d needed a new visa. He thought it interesting that Anne’s involvement in the whole thing had been played down so that she was just a minor figure, an addendum. Mark thought that the shame of obliterating the entire city of Cairo by mistake was a wound that still ran deep. It was also interesting that the Israeli government was trying to put the best spin on it they could. Slaughter on a massive scale was a difficult stain to remove.

Mark didn’t mind the inaccuracies. Only one person knew the whole truth and he was hoping to meet her! He did feel nervous, as nervous as he had on their first date. This was his last chance and he didn’t want to blow it. He’d thought a lot about how he felt about Anne over the past few days. In his mind he had decided to keep calling her ‘Anne’, even though she wasn’t born with that name. It was, he felt an important distinction. It helped him separate what she had been in the past to what she now was. He didn’t like to dwell on the past, it served no good whatsoever. Wills had asked him how he felt, wanting to be with a woman effectively older than his mother, and he’d replied that he didn’t see it like that. You were as old as you felt and acted. It wouldn’t matter anyway, only Wills and himself knew about Anne, and there was no way Wills would tell the truth. Who’d believe him anyway?

Mark was feeling hungry. He’d existed on junk food for the past couple of days for the sole reason that he couldn’t afford to eat out. Mark stood up and walked a few paces in a circle. His legs were getting a little stiff from sitting down for the past two hours. Suddenly, in the corner of his eye he saw a tall woman with blonde hair. The woman had tied it back into a pony tail, but she was unmistakable. She was helping the crew of large trawler type boat unload some trunks of some description. Unseen by Mark, Anne had arrived and was nearly ready to leave. In his mind he had imagined watching Anne majestically sailing in, and her leaping into his arms when she had docked. He knew that was a false picture, but it was one he’d clung onto. Still there was no time and he ran towards her, gathering his thoughts as he went.

Anne was just being handed a heavy looking box when she noticed someone running towards her. That someone looked a lot like Mark! She saw him look at her and wave, miss his footing, trip over and fall flat on his face. She shook her head in mild amusement. Mark always went to pieces when he was nervous around her. It had happened when she’d pulled up to help him with his car, and now this. Mark stood up and brushed himself down. His face was bright red with embarrassment. Anne acted as though she hadn’t seen him and carried the box to a waiting trailer. By the time she’d done that Mark was standing alongside, waiting for her.

Anne turned to Mark and said, "Mark I’m sorry you’ve wasted a trip. I can’t see you anymore," Anne’s voice was full of hurt. She turned around and went to walk back to the boat. Conversation over!

Mark was simply devastated. There was no other way to describe the way he felt. Wills had sacrificed his car just so that he could be here. Why was Anne blowing him off without so much as a hello? Unable to face Anne he turned and started to walk away.

Suddenly his hurt turned to anger. How dare she do this to him! He wasn’t just one of her pawns for her to use and then dispose of! He had feelings and he meant for Anne to know them. Ignoring his nerves he whirled around sharply, and took hold of Anne’s arm and pulled her back round to face him. Or at least he tried to because quicker the he could see and in a blinding flash of pain Anne had him in an arm lock from behind. "I told you to leave!" she hissed.

Fuck, she was quick, Mark thought. Ignoring the pain he felt, he said in his strongest tone, "No I won’t go! You owe me more than that! Wills had to sell his car for me to get here so I’m damn well not leaving until we talk this over. Who the fuck do you think you are? I know who you think you are, and I’ve come to tell you that you are someone different! Now do I get my conversation or do I tell everyone what I know."

Anne pulled Mark’s arm tighter, nearly causing him to cry out in pain. "You do that and you’ll doom us all," She hissed.

"Ah yes your precious let’s save the world project," Mark said sarcastically.

Anne let Mark’s arm go before she attracted too much attention from the quayside. "You’ve just earned yourself that conversation. But don’t expect too much from me. It’ll take me an hour to finish up here. You know where the university is? Meet me outside the life sciences faculty in two hours."

Mark’s arm hurt like hell, and he moved it around to try and get the circulation back. "Ok, My flight leaves in four hours. If I miss that I’m trapped here. Until then, bye!"

"Bye," Anne said tersely. She was aware she had gone over the top at Mark, but that was to test him. His spirited fight back had shown her that he was here for a serious conversation, not some kind of romantic reunion. That pleased her, she would be able to explain to him her reasons for not wanting him close. She had acted on instinct when he’d grabbed her from behind and the fact she had nearly broke his arm proved her point. She would use the incidence as evidence in her case.

Mark walked towards the campus. His arm still hurt but it was his heart that hurt even more. He wasn’t sure why Anne had reacted like she had, but he didn’t have too long to wait. His PDA guided him back to the campus, it was a fair walk, but he didn’t have the money for a cab. The walk would do him good and it gave time for his arm to stop hurting.

After finishing off, Anne waved goodbye to the crew of the ‘Easu’ and jumped into her hired Lotus . It didn’t take her long to drive back to the Campus and she parked in her traditional spot, just outside the life science’s faculty. She took a deep breath and calmed herself as she saw Mark waiting patiently for her on the steps. He looked bored and thoroughly miserable. She walked up him and said, "I’m sorry about the arm. You took me by surprise that’s all."

Mark shrugged, "It’s ok. It’s still attached, just."

Anne looked Mark in the eyes; "I know why you came. You hoped to get back with me. You wanted to explain why you pushed me away."

Mark gave Anne a sad puppy dog look "That about covers it."

"I’m sorry but your trip here was a waste of time. I’ll pay Wills back the money he gave you," Anne said softly.

"Why Anne? When we split up you told me you loved me.

What’s changed?"

Anne shrugged, "Nothing, and that’s the problem. Look, we’ll talk at my place. It’s more private."

Mark nodded. His heart had sank to a deep dark pit and he didn’t feel like saying anything anymore. It hurt too much.

Anne led him to her car, and unlocked it.

"Nice car," Mark commented admiring the sleek shape of the Lotus.

"Not a patch on my Porsche. This has a fuel cell, but it’ll do," Anne said. They were making small talk, skirting around the issue.

They turned out of the Campus and onto a busy freeway, Everywhere people were going about their normal lives, "What’s it feel like being here? You feel responsible for what happened here twenty years ago. It must hurt, seeing all those plaques everywhere!"

Anne looked at Mark, "It doesn’t hurt. Nothing does anymore. The only way for me to live is without feelings. My heart is like ice and my soul is stone."

Mark looked into Anne’s blue eyes and saw the hurt and pain she still felt deep inside her. She had covered it over by a veneer of unfeeling logic, but he knew she still hurt inside. "I went to the memorial of the Guild attack. They hardly mention you."

Anne nodded, "I know. Just as well. Better let the world think that the Guild succeeded rather than I failed. I know it’s the other way around of course. Sure, Israel has its propaganda, as I’m sure Egypt does too. Listen, Mark, death follows me around. I wrote in my letter to Matthew and Kat that I am death incarnate and I still am!"

"Is that what you are afraid of? That I’ll die and leave you alone?" Mark said. At last he saw a breakthrough.

"It’s just up here," Anne said, avoiding the question and pointing to a set of apartment blocks. She didn’t come here to have counseling by Mark. She came to say goodbye.

Taking the hint Mark fell silent until they had parked and had caught the elevator to Anne’s dorm. As he walked into it he was impressed by the standard of it. It was decorated in a modest but somehow elegant tone. He would describe it as classy and not brash at all.

"Drink?" Anne asked.

"Sure why not? OJ please," Mark said softly and sat down on the sofa.

"Thought so," Anne gave a sad smile. Mark always had orange juice when he was upset. He’d described it as better for him than beer, and Anne had to admit he was right.

A minute or so later Anne handed Mark a glass of orange juice and sat down on the opposite chair. She braced herself for what she was going to say. "The reason why we can’t be together isn’t because I don’t love you, because I do. It’s because you were right about me."

"How so?" Mark said softly.

Anne looked at Mark, "Mercy isn’t in my nature. You don’t deserve me Mark. I’m more bad news than you can handle."

Mark glanced across at Anne. He was still too hurt to look her in the eyes, "That’s what you told me on our first date. As for more bad news, that’s for me to decide isn’t it?"

"You do not understand," Anne said softly.

"Then help me to!" Mark demanded.

"You know what I told you about my past don’t you?" Anne said. This was going to be hard but it was only way to make Mark understand.

Mark nodded, "Sure! You’re Dr Bexley, you faked your suicide and worked for the CIA until you decided to do Marine Biology."

"I didn’t tell you everything about my time with the CIA. I wasn’t just a courier or a smuggler. They used my skills to kill people, people they couldn’t get close to by normal means. What I’m saying is that I am an assassin. First I join the Guild of Assassins to try and take them down, and then I end up as one anyway!" Anne averted her eyes downwards. She had killed people in the name of truth, justice and the American way.

"I figured as much. It doesn’t matter! That’s in the past, years ago!" Mark said.

To Mark’s surprise tears formed in Anne’s eyes. She gave him a tearful look and said, "It’s not all in the past. That’s the problem!"

Mark looked surprised. What was Anne saying?

You read about Elizabeth, my daughter’s kidnap right?

Mark nodded. He had been worried about Anne.

"My old boss called me up and told me in no uncertain terms that the risk of Elizabeth manifesting the same MPD as affected me was too great. If she had the same symptoms then I was to kill her. If I didn’t, someone with less experience would." Anne tried to fight back the tears.

Mark looked into Anne’s eyes for the first time since he’d sat down, "That’s horrible. So she wasn’t shot trying to escape? You did it!"

Anne took a deep breath and wiped her eyes dry, "I did it. I had no choice."

Mark gave Anne a comforting look, "But she’s ok. She lived! Your super healing modification you built into her saved her. Or at least that’s what the news said the other day."

"There was no such healing modification. If you remember back to that conversation we had when I first told you about me. I told you I had managed to cure myself permanently of the flaw in my brain," Anne said.

"Yeah I vaguely remember. I was a bit shaken up so I don’t remember all the details," Mark said.

"After I’d left I tried to get some sleep. I was so down at the way things had worked out. I really thought we had something special, but on looking back it was for the best. I’d just woken up when my previous employer told me he needed me again. He gave me a stark choice. Subject Elizabeth to a test and shoot her if she failed, or let someone else do it. If someone else did do it then it was very likely they would make a mistake. I seemingly had no option. If I was to be in a position to save my daughter,s life I had to go along with it."

Mark shook his head in disbelief. What a horrible choice to make. "So that’s where you went to those few days."

Anne nodded "Yeah, I went looking for her."

Mark gave Anne a puzzled look, "But she was found the day after she went missing. How’d you find her so quickly?"

Anne looked away from Mark, "I’d rather not talk about it."

Mark gave Anne an incredulous look, "Is it classified?"

Anne pursed her lips slightly and shook her head, "Not all of it. But what I did in my anger at her kidnappers was so awful, so horrible and so vicious it still gives me nightmares. It’s why you don’t deserve me."

Mark became slightly annoyed, "Why don’t you let me make that decision."

Anne gave a sigh, "Please don’t make me talk about it!"

Mark gave Anne a look of sympathy "If you want me out of here then you have to tell me. It’ll help you too."

Anne shot Mark a look of resignation. Maybe it would do her good to tell someone, "We knew who had been behind the kidnapping, but time was running very short for Elizabeth’s sanity. We knew the Children of Bexley wanted to put so much stress on Elizabeth that it would cause her MPD flaw to come to the front. That Elizabeth’s alternative personality would force it’s way into Elizabeth’s mind and suppress the real Elizabeth. Just like what happened to me. So I went straight to the cult leader, kidnapped him and took him to a safe house."

"And you revealed yourself in all your glory so he told you where Elizabeth was being kept," Mark stated.

Anne shook her head, "I tried that. He didn’t want ME back—he wanted his own little controllable Dr Bexley that he could use for his own ends. He knew he couldn’t have me, so he wanted Elizabeth instead. By this time I so furious at what he’d done to Elizabeth, and at his making out that some of the truest friends I ever had were murderers and liars, that flaw or no flaw I wanted to kill him. He still refused to tell me where Elizabeth was. Time was running short and I was seriously pissed off at his arrogant attitude."

"So what did you do to him?" Mark asked quietly.

"His main argument against the Fury was that DNA Modification was not possible. I showed him it was by turning him into a copy of the original me. I asked him again and still he refused so I turned him back."

Mark was horrified, "Anne that’s outrageous! Who gave you the right to do that to him!"

"Now you are starting to see what I mean. Still he held out as I verbally took apart everything he believed. By the time this had happened I was more furious at him and fuelled by my concern for Elizabeth I had to resort to drastic methods."

Mark looked shocked as he had a thought, "You turned him back into a woman. Is that why he can’t be found?"

Anne shook her head and looked down. "No. If only. I took him apart bit by bit until he told me where Elizabeth was."

Mark looked puzzled. "I thought you’d already done that?"

Anne looked away from Mark, her head hanging in shame, "Not verbally, literally. I tortured him by removing his internal organs one at a time, while he was still alive and with no anesthetic. I’d given him drugs to ensure that he stayed conscious but that was the only drug I gave him. Eventually he told me, so I put him out of misery."

Mark sat back on the sofa in shock. This last act wasn’t years ago or when Anne had been insane. It was only a few weeks old. He was so shocked that the words refused to come out.

Anne smiled a weak smile "Now you see don’t you. Mercy is not in my nature. I thought I had left the past behind when I became Anne Baxter, built a new life as her and even," she looked at Mark, "fell in love. But I’m a monster. I kill without mercy, but then weep about it afterwards. I’ve not changed from all those years ago, have I?"

Mark tried to get away from the image of Anne slowly cutting out the cult leader’s organs one by one. He was no medical doctor but he could visualize the amount of blood, gore and pain the cult leader had felt. He decided to move on and change the subject. His brain wouldn’t take it in all in one go and he needed to give it some time, "So you flew to England and found Elizabeth."

Anne nodded. "The cult had relied solely on secrecy and so only had one person guarding Elizabeth. I broke into the house, stunned her, and then confronted an unconscious Elizabeth. Not wanting to move I waited until she woke up. What confronted me there was the stuff of my worst nightmares."

"You were too late?" Mark asked.

Anne nodded. "I made a tape recording of her. Her MPD personality had taken over Elizabeth’s mind completely. She called herself ‘Deianeria’. After much verbal fencing I managed to get Deianeria to open up to me. She described how she would get her revenge on her parents and Cathline for ruining her marriage to her fiancée, Alex. She described in vivid and horrific detail how she would get Kat and Cathline to fuck each other, under pain of death. She described how she would join in until they had all come. Then she moved onto Matthew and her brother, John who had been chained up. She told me how she would fuck and then castrate them, give John hormones so that he would become female and keep Matthew as her personal sissy slave. She then told me how she would kill Cathline and let me have Matthew for my own use. She described all this as if she was getting really turned on by it. It chilled me to the bone just listening to her."

Mark breathed out, "I see. So this Deianeria was utterly evil. From what I’ve heard Elizabeth’s personality had already been taking over."

Anne nodded, "The worst thing was that as Deianeria was speaking I recognized myself in everything she’d done. The fucking, the emasculation and the murder I had all done. Not just in the past, but just recently when I mutilated the cult leader. I was supposed to be cured and a reformed character, but how could I justify the methods I had used to find her? All these years I thought I’d come to terms with what I’d done to people, but in reality I’d buried the feelings away and ignored them. Hearing Deianeria tell me her darkest thoughts was like listening to myself. Deianeria and I are so alike. That was what made me realize that we couldn’t be together any more."

Mark saw where Anne was coming from. It wasn’t that she didn’t love him; it came from a fear that she would hurt him, and from a conviction that she wasn’t worthy of anyone’s love. He decided to pick his moment before mentioning it, so he said, "So she failed the test."

Anne looked at Mark. Her face showing that she was hurting inside, "Yes. I had to find a way to save her life, satisfy my bosses that she was dead, and get rid of Deianeria. I’d worked out what I was going to do beforehand, but whether it would work or not was a different matter. I was desperately worried and almost thought she was dead a few times. You ever heard of the work Dr Yuri Kopaev? And the treatment I performed on Detective Tina Cox?"

Mark shrugged. "Can’t say I have."

Anne explained, "Back in 2012 Dr Yuri Kopaev speculated that if you shut down the body, to a deep coma almost to the point of death, and then bring the person back to consciousness the MPD personality that was being manifest would it had died and shut down."

Mark shot Anne a quizzical look, "So you convinced Deianeria that she was dead. She then effectively died so that when Elizabeth came back only Elizabeth would remain."

Anne nodded, "He called it ‘the cold boot’ theory. It’s the same theory as powering off a computer to clear out its memory before you restart it. He never got it to work right because he could never get the patients back again. In his paper on it he was convinced he could make it work and so was I. You remember how I cured Detective Tina Cox?"

"Nope. Sorry," Mark admitted.

Anne put on her lecture tone of voice, "She had suffered very serious spinal injuries as a result of a fight with a Guild changeling. I had managed to stabilize her condition but she was still in a deep coma. The only way to cure her was to inject her with a very slow acting DNA modification serum. It would act cell by cell, allowing the body to recover after each small change. If it had been too fast acting the stress of the changes would have killed her. I used the same technique with Elizabeth. My gunshot had to be serious enough to place her in the coma, and make my employers think I’d killed her, but not so serious it would kill her outright. As soon as I shot her I called the paramedics and followed her to the hospital. I hung around the hospital for a day or so, first as a nurse and then as a doctor, making sure that her condition was ok. Her brain had almost shut right down and her body was on bio support. According to Dr Yuri Kopaev’s paper she was in the ideal condition for ‘a cold boot’. I came to her a day or so after I’d shot her, and using all my concentration formulated in my changeling organ a slow acting DNA regeneration drug. It would slowly start to heal the damage the bullet had caused and then heal the flaw in her mind. I knew the formulae because I performed the same operation on myself."

Mark raised an eyebrow in surprise. He’d heard that Anne was an exceptional surgeon and planner but this was truly brilliant "Anne that’s stunning."

Anne shrugged the compliment off. She remembered injecting Elizabeth and the subsequent worry about her condition. "On anyone else it would have failed. I knew what her metabolism was, it’s limits, and everything, because I lived in that body for twenty odd years. Her condition worsened as the drug slowly took resources from the mind and body with which to work. I had to hope that Kat would refuse the doctor’s request to switch off the machines. If they had switched them off too early then Elizabeth would have died. I’ve known Kat for years. She regards life as the most precious thing there is. I gambled that Kat would stand firm until there was no hope at all. From reading the news reports, I was right. It worked Mark. It worked!"

Mark saw Anne’s face light up. Maybe there was some hope for them after all. "It sounds as though it was one hell of a risk. You must have been worried sick about her."

Anne nodded. Her blonde hair fell in front of her eyes, so she brushed it away, "I was, but I had to get on with my project. If I’d delayed any longer, then more would die. I had to trust in my friends and Elizabeth’s will to live. Anyway, it seems as though my plan worked. My bosses were satisfied because I had shot and killed Elizabeth. Elizabeth’s flaw was cured so Deianeria could never return, and since Elizabeth no longer has the flaw my bosses have no reason to eliminate Elizabeth."

Mark smiled. He saw a way thorough Anne’s pain. "Can’t you see that you cured her. The world will never know the real truth but you saved her life. How can you be the evil monster you see yourself as if you did this?"

Anne looked at Mark, "Even monsters save their own children."

Mark took a sip of orange juice. His mind needed time to come to terms with what Anne had just told him. Anne, seeing a natural break in the conversation stood up, walked towards the window, and looked out over a bustling Tel-Aviv.

Mark stood up a few seconds later and walked over to Anne. He turned to face her and said "When you first told me who you were, I panicked. I had fallen in love with Anne Baxter only to find that she was Dr Elizabeth Bexley. That thought freaked me out, and it wasn’t helped by recurring nightmares of what you did to those gang members."

Anne gave Mark a knowing look, "You were right about me. I’m not the woman you fell in love with. You fell in love with sweet little Anne Baxter, not who I really am. Death incarnate and ‘Hell bitch’"

Mark shook his head, "I fell in love with you. You are older than me, but so naive."

"How so?" Anne said, and returned her gaze to the view of Tel-Aviv.

"You know, there’s an old adage that says ‘get a life’ You need to get yours back again! You think you have some ideal to live up to. You spend all your life trying to make up for what you did in the past. You turned Matthew back and tried as best you could to make up for what you’d done to him. You then try and stop the Guild because they were going to use your invention as a weapon, and then after Tel-Aviv and Cairo have been destroyed you start a new life as Anne Baxter and try to save the worlds Oceans. You’ve spent the last thirty years trying to make up for your mistakes. You murdered those gang members and the cult leader so you save your daughter’s life to try and make up for it. Your only achievement in the past thirty years of getting yourself sorted out is to find different and better ways to run away. ‘I need to go and find my own path, only I know what’s good for me.’ What a load of self-indulgent crap! It’s time you had a life rather than just lived one!"

"So what of it. I have to at least try," Anne snapped. Mark’s words had stung deep. But what she couldn’t refute was that they were true.

Mark stood closer to Anne, She needed to know he still cared for her, "Yes but you do it at the expense of those who love you. You punish yourself because you feel you deserve to be punished. You not wanting me around has nothing to do with you being a monster and merciless killer. It’s more to do with you not feeling worthy to have anyone love you. I spent months in a fit of self pity because I thought I had lost you for good. It wasn’t until I came through it that that I realized that love is deeper than just self absorption, infatuation and a bulge in my pants!"

Anne remained silent. Marks words started to eat into her soul. He had a point of course. But to open her heart fully up to him was a big step. She turned towards Mark once more and said, "You don’t think I’ve thought of all this? You don’t think I’ve tried all of this before?" Anne tried not to let sarcasm creep into her voice.

"Yes but every time you’ve tried it it’s only been you. You’ve been pulling on your own resources and yours alone. Sure you’ve read around it and studied counseling theory, but it’s only been you. Anne, how do you really feel?"

Anne turned to face the window once more. "I feel old. Worn out."

Mark put his arm around Anne’s waist and to his surprise she didn’t pull away, "Let me make you feel young again. Maybe the reason why you’ve not been able to see your way clear is because it’s not a job for you alone. Anne, let me into your heart."

Anne shook her head, "I can’t! My heart is ice and my soul is stone. You said you were in love with Anne Baxter. She’s only an alias."

Mark pulled Anne closer, "No she’s not! Wills made me see it and it’s why I came here rather than just walk away. You couldn’t live the life of Anne Baxter for five years without her being the real you. Nobody can act that well, Anne Baxter is how Dr Elizabeth Bexley is now, not how she was fifteen, twenty or thirty years ago."

Anne turned to face Mark, her eyes moist with tears, "Then Anne Baxter is a monster! She kills in the most brutal way possible and without mercy! I haven’t changed at all!"

Mark shook his head, "Anne Baxter is the woman, who helps a stranger with his car, shows her love for her boyfriend by exposing her greatest secrets and fears to him. She saves the life of her daughter and then slips into the background so her daughter can live in peace with her adopted family. Anne Baxter is the woman who leaves her stricken daughter to work on something that will save an entire ecosystem. Anne Baxter is the woman who trusts her friends enough to leave the life of her daughter in their hands. Anne Baxter is.."

"Alright I get the picture," Anne said softly.

Mark looked Anne in the eyes. The tears had ceased, and a spark of hope was there. He smiled and said, "I’m not sure you do. I’m glad I wasn’t there to see what you did to the cult leader but that side is part of who you are too. We all have our darker sides. That part of us we keep hidden and away from sight. It’s the part of us that wants to dominate others, the part that drives natural selection onwards and the part we draw on when we need strength beyond what we can cope with. I think this Deianeria was Elizabeth’s darker side unleashed and without restraint. That’s the difference. In every case you said you did what you could before taking the final step. With those gang members you tried to negotiate and protect me. With the cult leader you tried the thing most likely to get him to talk first. From what you’ve told me you use force as a last resort. That’s not acting in an evil way is it?"

"You’re only saying that to make me feel better," Anne said softly.

Mark smiled and took Anne’s hand. Again she didn’t pull away, "I’ve had weeks to think about this. I’ll say it again, you’ve spent years trying to sort this out yourself and by yourself, and it’s not got you anywhere but deeper in. You need to move away from thinking me, me, me but you can’t because you are not capable of getting away from yourself."

"I knew that’s what I needed to do. That’s why I love you. You made me feel like my original me again. Not like Anne Baxter or a ‘hell bitch’ but like me before I met Matthew. Mark I’m so messed up inside I can’t feel anymore. I should be crying but the tears won’t come. I’m dead inside. You’re wasting your time with me."

Mark pulled Anne closer towards him, "Wasting my time? If I thought that I wouldn’t have plunged myself into debt, called in every favor I can, and flown 8000 miles to see you, would I? Anne what you’ve told me today and beforehand only confirms what I knew from the first time I saw you, that you are a most remarkable woman."

Anne pulled back, away from Mark, "What you’re trying to do isn’t going to be achieved in a few hours talking or even a few weeks. I can’t ask you to do this for me."

Mark looked into Anne’s eyes and his heart soared. She was looking at him with an expectancy and hope that had been missing for so long, "I’m not asking this to be a short term thing and you didn’t ask me to help. I’m offering it because Anne Baxter or whoever you are today, I’m so deeply in love with you that I can’t imagine living without you."

Anne gave Mark a look. He didn’t know what he was letting himself in for. But was he the ONE? Her instincts told her he was. Her heart or what was left of it told her he was. So why did she still feel unsure? One thing she did know, and that was that Mark loved her. She had told him everything she had done and he was still willing to stand by her. That told her something. Maybe he was the right person to melt her heart and turn her stone soul back to flesh. She was in love with him, that much was clear. He made her feel young again, as though the fury and its consequences had happened to another Dr Elizabeth Bexley. He had Matthew’s innocence but none of his naivete. He shared Matthew’s compassion and heart but was prepared to stand with her rather than flee. Mark’s trip to be with her in Israel proved that. Mark wouldn’t jilt her or run away. He would stand alongside her no matter the consequences. She pulled him closer so that their noses were almost touching, "I hope You realize I mate for life?"

Mark moved in and gave Anne a loving passionate kiss, "I wouldn’t have it any other way."

Anne returned the kiss and felt the years fall away from her. The block of ice that was her heart had started to thaw and although it would take a lot of time, pain and soul searching, she knew that together they would make it. She pulled away from Mark’s kiss and gave him a loving hug. Her eyes crying with tears of joy and freedom. Finally she was free.

o—o—o—

Two Years Later.

The 60 foot research vessel ‘Hera’ drew to a stop and with the help of frantic activity by its ten man crew it weighed anchor and drifted gently on the turquoise ocean. Inside a young man and his stunningly beautiful blonde fiancée stood inside the bridge and were reaching the climax of a hectic two years work

"I think you should do the honors," Mark said pointing to a switch on the bridge.

"I should think so," Anne said with a smile.

"I still can’t believed you convinced the UN to let you do this!"

Mark said, and gave Anne a peck on the cheek.

Anne returned the kiss, "I can’t believe it took them a year to decide! Just as well I started while I was still at college. At least we know have a chance!"

Mark gave Anne an incredulous smile, "A chance! Hah. All the results of the trials have shown a 70 percent improvement over your estimates. If this goes well then the decline of the marine ecology will be well and truly over in thirty, not sixty years! I must say I’m still stunned by the audacity of your scheme and I knew about it two years ago!"

"Well you know me, I always like to go one better than the rest," Anne said with a smile.

Mark shot Anne a look of admiration, "Only the great Dr Bexley would think of genetically modifying Plankton so they ingested and broke down what ever pollutants were in the water and so cleaned the water as they bred."

Anne gave Mark a friendly prod, "Oh come on there’s more to it than that. I had to limit the number of generations so that they didn’t breed out of control. Alter their shape so that the plankton eating animals and plants didn’t die of poisoning. They also had to float to the top of the ocean and stay there so they could be collected and not let the pollution get back into the ecosystem again. You know the brief. I had to almost redesign the marine food chain to get this to work properly! That’s what took the time, that and triple checking," As she had thought it had been a real battle to get her idea firstly accepted, and then recognized by the scientific community. At first they had laughed it off and then as they investigated the evidence called it grossly irresponsible. Anne had not given in however and the first shore based trials in the Black Sea had proven the idea beyond doubt. The water quality in the Black Sea was back to the levels of the late 1930’s and was still improving. Thanks to her safeguards the effects on the ecosystem and food chain had only been beneficial and now at long last she was about to perform the first clear up of an entire Ocean. The effects would take far longer to be measured but they would know for sure in ten years time.

Mark thought back to Anne’s interviews with several mining companies. They had seen the potential almost as soon as Anne’s paper was published, "I liked the idea of getting this modified plankton to extract minerals from sea water. The mining companies are falling over themselves to sign up for usage licenses. I think I could get used to marrying a billionaire!"

Anne smiled, "Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. First we need to dump these forty tons of GM-Plankton 260 and then can pay some old friends a visit."

"You sure you really want to visit them? You’ve stayed out of their lives for twenty odd years," Mark asked. He wasn’t worried about Anne. It had been hard work overcoming her past and her lack of self esteem but they had stuck together thru it all and were now closer than ever. They had come close to splitting up a couple of times, but never as close as when he’d visited Tel-Aviv just over two years ago. Whenever she wanted to push herself away he had stayed by her side and just loved her back.

Anne thought for a few moments, "Yes I do. I promised myself I’d see Elizabeth just before she got married, just to make sure she is ok. I know she is, but I want to see her just the once. This time I promise I won’t shoot her!"

Mark grinned. "Ok, how are you going to play this?"

Anne raised an eyebrow, "I’ve got it all planned out. After we’ve dumped this we’ll take an inflatable and sail to their island. We’ll tell them there’s been a fire on board and we need to radio for help. I’m sure they’ll invite us for a meal so we’ll stay a while and then after I’ve seen everything’s ok with them we’ll leave."

Mark gave Anne a hug, "I thought you’d have it all worked out. That’s why you wanted to dump the first batch in the Indian Ocean isn’t it? How far is their island?"

Anne took hold of Mark’s hand and have him a kiss, "You know that’s the reason we came here! I told you it was, silly! Their island is about 3 hours away from here. Anyway it’s almost time. Make sure we’re all set for me one last time.

"Done," Mark said and checked the release mechanism. A few minutes later he said "All ready when you are."

Tears of joy formed in Anne’s eyes. The last time she was here she had vowed to stop the rape of the oceans. Now some thirty years afterwards, she had succeeded. Anne walked over to the switch and with a determined movement of her finger she flipped the switch.

Underneath the boat a series of pipes opened, equalized the pressure, and let out the modified plankton. As soon as they were in the water the plankton would start to filter out pollutants before finally dying and floating to the top for scooping up afterwards. The UN had provided a flotilla of ships to do the clear up in a few weeks time. They would track the plankton by using currents and satellite imagery and so skim off the dead plankton, thus clearing the ocean.

Anne walked away from the switch and felt the boat rock slightly as the last of the plankton was released. She thought back to her time in exile as a mermaid. What had she said at the time? It came back to her a few moments later and she repeated out loud, "I am Scylla, daughter of Poseidon, Guardian of the underworld which are the oceans of this world. Mortal man listen to my siren song and tremble."

Mark drew alongside her and pulled her close. She had done it! "We’d better get underway if you want to go visiting. How do you feel?" he said.

Anne put her arm around Mark’s muscular waist, "I feel young. As though the world has just been born and this is the first day of creation. Mark, I feel reborn, forgiven and free. Now it’s time to bury my past, so I can have a future with you."

o—o—o—

Matthew and Kat were walking hand in hand along the beach. Matthew’s hand was around Kat’s waist and her head was resting on his arm. They heard the sound of a motor launch heading towards them and they turned to face the sound. A small inflatable boat was slowly making its way thru the swell and was about to dock at the jetty. Inside the boat was a young woman with long blonde hair and wonderful curves. Standing up, steering the boat was a tall man with dark hair. By the looks of them they’d been at sea for a while.

Matthew called out a greeting to them and the man waved back. Kat had already started to run to the jetty to investigate. By the time Matthew had reached the boat it was already tied up and the man was helping the young woman from the boat.

"I’m so glad that you’re in. Could you please help us?" Anne said. Anne was relieved that both Kat and Matthew seemed to be doing just fine after the trauma they had gone thru two years ago.

"What’s the problem?" Matthew said.

Anne studied Matthew’s face. It still had that boyish look of innocence about it. He’d never lost that look, even after so much pain and hardship Anne thought. She recovered herself and quickly replied, "Sorry. Introductions first. My name is Dr Anne Baxter. This is my fiancée Mark. We’re marine biologists researching the effect of man’s pollution on the reefs around here. We suffered a fire aboard our ship that knocked out all our radios and damaged the rudder. Can we use your radio to summon help?"

"Sure. Does anyone need any medical help? We’ve a doctor here at the moment I’m sure she’d like to help," Kat asked.

Of course! Anne remembered Elizabeth has passed her MD at an even higher grade than she had. ‘Bitch!’ she thought to herself, but inside she was very proud.

"No the rest of the crew is fine. The ship is about ten miles out from here so we took the dinghy. Besides, I used to want to be a medical doctor, did all the training and everything but the ocean holds a greater calling." Anne answered. She was relieved. Elizabeth was here and she would get to meet her!

"You look famished. Why don’t you come inside? It’s our daughter Elizabeth’s wedding in a couple of days so you’ll excuse us if we’re a little busy."

"Hey I recognize you now, from the TV. You were at President Jameson’s swearing in. Now I know who you are. Aren’t you Matthew and Jane Stephens? " Mark said.

"Yeah. We try and keep a low profile nowadays. If you’ve got time why don’t you stay for some dinner? I’m sure Elizabeth and John won’t mind."

Anne gave Mark a nod and then said "Yeah love to. Just let us call for help first."

"Agreed. Matthew’ll show Mark to the radio. You can walk with me?" Kat suggested.

"Thanks. Say, for a woman of fifty something you look very good. Sure hope I look as good when I’m fifty," Anne said. It felt strange, walking back to the house at her ease, with a woman she had caused so much suffering to, with whom in fact she shared their daughter, and as someone other than Dr Elizabeth Bexley. But now Dr Elizabeth Bexley was living on borrowed time. After this trip she would be gone and only Dr Elizabeth ‘Anne’ Baxter would remain.

She thought to herself, I look better than you do and I am fifty She had to hold down a smile at that thought.

"I had some outside help. Say, you and Mark look well suited.

How’d you meet?"

"We met at college. His car had broken down on the campus, I was driving past and I helped him fix it. We just seemed to hit it off right away. He’s my soul mate. I guess you know all about that?" Anne said. Her journey to meet her soul mate, Mark had been longer than Kat’s but now she was with him it had been worth every minute. It pleased her to see Kat still as much in love with Matthew as she’d ever been.

Kat smiled. "You bet."

o - o - o -

 

"The Radio’s just thru there," Matthew pointed to an old looking radio set that was perched on a nearby table.

"Thanks. I’ll only be a few minutes."

"Fine, want me to show you how to use it?"

"Nah, I can still use these old silicon units. She’s quite a woman isn’t she?"

"Who, Kat?"

"Yeah. She reminds me of my Elizabeth Anne. She doesn’t use her first name much, in case you were wondering, but I like it. And I love her! Anyway, If she hadn’t have been there to help me fix my car I’d have missed my exam and failed my doctorate. She’s irreplaceable!," that’s an understatement, Mark thought. Both of them owed everything they held dear to Anne’s ingenuity and courage.

Matthew smiled "It wasn’t snowing, was it?"

"Umm no. Oh yes, I get it. I’ve read about you and that Dr. Bexley. We did about you in school, you know! No it wasn’t. I’d better make the call," If only Matthew knew what was really going on, Mark thought.

"Fine, I’ve got dinner to get ready. The dining room’s down the corridor and third door on the left," Matthew said, and left the room.

Several minutes later Mark joined Matthew, Dr Baxter, and Kat in the dining room. The fake call to the coastguard had been made.

"Hi hun, I’ve just got off the radio. They say they’ve sent a ship from Male to tow our ship back to port for repairs. It should get there in a few hours," Mark said.

"Great. Come down and sit next to me," Anne said, and patted the seat next to her.

"Ah, young love," a nightingale voice said from behind them.

"Dr Baxter, Mark, I’d like you to meet our daughter, Dr Elizabeth Stephens. Soon to be Dr Elizabeth Richards," Kat said.

"As if I could forget. All I’ve been doing for the past month is getting ready for my wedding. Anyway, nice to meet you. Heard you had some trouble with your boat," Elizabeth said.

"Yeah all sorted now," Mark said, staring at the tall auburn haired woman with the blue-gray eyes. Anne had told him so much about her. He thought she looked cute, not a patch on Anne of course. Anne had spoken about her daughter with so much pride and love. Now that he saw her he knew that she wasn’t wrong.

Dr Elizabeth Stephens sat down beside Matthew. "Hey dad, where’s that pesky brother of mine? He’s always late for dinner."

"Probably still working on his thesis. Go and get him would you dear?" Kat said to Elizabeth.

"Sure mom," Elizabeth replied and got up and walked out.

"Smart girl and beautiful too. You must be very proud," Anne’s heart leapt. Elizabeth was fine, more than fine. She looked radiant and so much better than the last time they had met. There were no signs, physical or emotional of her brush with Deianeria or death. That thought pleased Anne a great deal and she felt another burden lift from her. It was another step in her healing process. She had of course seen Elizabeth in various magazines but seeing her alive and so much in love warmed her heart. It was all she could do not to run up to her and give her a hug.

"We are. We’re proud of both of them. Elizabeth beat the class record at Harvard set by the late Dr Bexley by a fraction of a point and John is looking set to graduate with honors at Yale. All in all we’re very happy."

"Changing the subject, I hear they’ve nearly decontaminated Cairo. It should be habitable within the next five years or so. Shame about the pyramids and Sphinx. I always wanted to see them. They must have been impressive," Mark said. He wanted to change the subject quickly. Anne was playing a dangerous game.

"I guess. We only saw them in a blur on our honeymoon. We had other things on our mind at the time. But that was a LONG time ago. Too long," Matthew commented.

"Almost a lifetime," Anne said softly. Again she fought down her emotions. These people belonged to the past. Her future was now with Mark. She had been right to come and say goodbye, this wasn’t just goodbye to a few old friends, it was the burial of her past history. She had moved on from it, and it gave her a lot of pleasure to see that they had too!

A tall man with black hair and dark brown eyes walked in "Hi Dad, what’s for dinner?"

"Mark, Dr Baxter I’d like you to meet our son, John," Matthew said.

"Pleased to meet you," Mark said and held out his hand.

Shaking it John said, "Pleasure."

"Say, I’d like to write a congratulations note to Elizabeth and her future husband," Anne asked Anne thought. Time for me to see whether Kat is as sharp as she used to be. I need to say goodbye properly without giving myself away to the rest of them.

"Sure. I’ll go get some paper," Matthew said and went to a nearby drawer, rummaged around for a bit and came back with a notepad and pen.

Taking the pad and pen Anne thought for a while and then wrote on the pad. "I’ll keep this until after dinner," she said.

Elizabeth soon joined them and sat down at her place next to Matthew.

After dinner Mark and Anne bade their farewells. Anne handed the note to Kat and then walked off with Mark to their waiting boat.

"What’s the note say?" Matthew asked.

Kat scanned it and read out,

‘Wishing my sister bride all the best in her upcoming marriage. May it be fruitful and give you all your hearts desire. You are very fortunate to have parents who love you and each other as much as they do.

Dr Anne Baxter (Scylla) and Dr Mark Andrews.’

Kat thought for a moment and said "Nice of them to do that. Oh rats, they forgot something. Don’t worry I’ll go."

Kat rushed out of the door and just heard Matthew call "Hey, you forgot what they forgot!" Ignoring Matthew’s call, Kat sprinted down the steps to the jetty and just made it in time to see Anne get into the boat.

"Dr Baxter, wait!" Kat called out.

"What’s up?" Dr Baxter called out. She hasn’t lost her touch, Anne thought. She calmed herself. It wasn’t everyday you said goodbye to thirty years of past history. She felt a little sad, but she knew from seeing them all again that they had emerged from the horror of Elizabeth’s kidnap stronger than ever before.

"You left something behind. A wedding present from Matthew and me."

"Hey thanks," Anne said, got out of the boat and walked towards Kat. Anne smiled to herself.

"Hi witch, a little bit different from when we last met on this jetty isn’t it?" Kat said.

"Pardon?" Anne said, a surprised look on her face. ‘Witch’ was Kat’s pet name for her so many years ago. Kat using it was the final proof that Kat knew. Now the question was what would she do with that knowledge. Anne decided to play coy. It was for the best.

Kat decided to lay her hunch on the table, "Come on Liz. I’ve no idea how you pulled it off but you can drop the pretence. It’ll be our secret."

"Sorry Jane. Dr Bexley’s been dead for over twenty years. She’s not a part of your life anymore. I suggest you let me get back to Mark and my crew. It’s been a pleasure meeting you."

"Then why all the hints? The Scylla thing? That was the alias you gave yourself when you were exiled to the ocean as a mermaid. What about you wanting to be a MD and then changing your mind? If you still had a changeling organ you could make yourself younger. The deal you did with the government could’ve given you a new life and faked the suicide. What about the sister thing on Elizabeth’s note?"

"Jane, Dr Bexley is dead and buried. I suggest you leave her there. The rest of the world has so why can’t you? Missing your Moriarty huh?"

Kat nodded. Was this woman standing before her really her arch nemesis, Dr Elizabeth Bexley? Kat had to admit she wasn’t sure anymore, "I guess so. I knew the way she operated better than most, makes me a little paranoid sometimes."

"I understand. She still haunts you both doesn’t she?"

"In a way. Part of us believes that she’s faked all this and that she’s alive somewhere making a new life for herself."

"What if she is? Would she want your interference? Would you want hers?"

"I guess not," Kat admitted.

"Then leave her in her grave and look forward to the years you have ahead of you."

"You’re right of course. Say, do you want to come back in a few days and be at Elizabeth’s wedding."

Anne thought for a moment. She would have loved to come but she didn’t trust herself to stay quiet and anonymous. She had seen all she had wanted to see. Elizabeth was now as happy as she was, and that was all that mattered to her. Matthew and Kat were as in love as ever and all was as it should be. She herself had so much yet to do and so much she wanted to do.

She looked at Kat’s deep brown eyes and said, "No thanks, I’ve grown out of being the uninvited guest. Thanks for the offer though, but I need to get our ship repaired and operational again. Hope I can drop in occasionally?" She had no intention of coming back. This was the goodbye she had wanted to say for so long.

"Anytime," Kat said softly.

Anne turned to go and walked towards the waiting dinghy.

"Oh Dr Baxter?" Kat called out.

Anne turned around "Yeah?"

"Thank you," Kat said.

"My pleasure. See ya later Kitty Kat," Anne said and gave a single fingered wave. She then paused for a moment. "You’re having a good life, I can see that. All of the others too who were involved in that Fury business way back?" Kat saying thank you to her meant so much that she could hardly speak.

Kat nodded slowly, wondering why she was asking.

‘How much do they really know’ Anne thought and decided to ask the question, "Ever wonder if Dr Bexley was being straight with you? Y’know about not being able to turn you back as you were? Even your daughter, Elizabeth looks a lot like her."

"Sometimes I wonder, but that’s all in the past now. As you say, life is good to us. As for Elizabeth, we realized while she was growing up that she was a direct clone of Dr Bexley. She’s much too clever and wilful, to be anything or anyone else. And yes, she does look just like her, even though she wears her hair softer. We were as angry as hell when we found out, but in the end we realized we loved her anyway. You love people for who they are, not where they came from, or who they may become."

Anne gave a smile, "As it should be," Kat always had a way of summing things up. Feelings that had taken her years to come to terms with Kat had touched on in those last few words. Anne would miss her.

Kat turned and walked away, deep in thought. Maybe she was right after all, who knew? Dr Baxter certainly wasn’t saying. She turned to watch Dr Baxter getting back into the dinghy.

"All the best ‘hell bitch’ and I hope it works for you this time," she whispered to herself.

She then turned back to walk to the house. Besides, Cathline and family would be arriving tomorrow afternoon. And there was a wedding to finalize.

As she reached the top of the steps leading to the house she turned once more to see the sun setting beneath the horizon. Looking down she saw the dinghy disappearing into the distance. She smiled to herself and went inside.

o—o—o—

 

 

Seventy five years later

"Great Grandmother come HERE!" a small juvenile voice insisted, and a young girl tugged at an old lady’s long flowing skirt.

"Not just yet child. I’ll be with you soon," the old woman promised.

"But I’m BORED!" the girl protested.

"Hush now. Great Grandma’s needs to do this, before..," the old woman’s voice tailed off.

Knowing that when great grandma said she needed to do something nothing could distract her from it, the child scampered off to chase butterflies in the nearby flowerbeds.

The old woman straightened herself up and looked over the expanse of graves that panned out in front of her. A tear formed in her eye. Too many people and too many lives wasted. Her focus shifted down to the two large, marble headstones that were in front of her. She read them once again

"Matthew Stephens Jane ‘Kat’ Stephens

1969-2067 1972-2073

True love knows no boundaries."

She had had so much to say to them; so much she wanted to tell them, but now even thirty years after their deaths she didn’t know what to say. They’d never known of the wonderful life she’d had with Mark, of the two children she’d borne him, nor that she was a great, great grandmother to three more. She hoped, no she knew they’d be happy for her and that, in the end was all that mattered.

She turned her head to briefly check if Cathline Jane was still ok, and saw that she was. She was using a twig to try and dig out a worm that had had the temerity to escape her clutches. She saw Cathline Jane look at her hand and concentrate. Within a few seconds it had reformed into a scoop, perfect for digging out worms with. She sighed, she’d told Cathline Jane hundreds of times not to play around with her ‘gift’, but as usual it had gone in one ear and out the other. Still, Cathline Jane would learn soon enough, just as her own children had.

In the corner of her eye she saw another figure walking towards her. Her eyes took a moment to register, but as soon as she saw the graying auburn hair and the tall but still slender frame she knew who it was. The figure noticed her and speeded up in order to reach her.

"Hello Mother," the figure said.

The old woman was staggered! How did she know!

"I know what you are thinking. I should do. I’ve thought like you for the past one hundred years. I know what today is and I know that only one person would be here at my parents graveside today. Only one person would never miss this day. That person is you."

"Pray tell, what day do you think it is?" the old woman asked.

"It’s hundred years since you placed me inside Kat isn’t it? "

"A hundred years eh? That’s a long time, a very long time.." The old woman’s voice trailed away, as if drifting into past memories. The old woman continued. "Do I look over a hundred and thirty years old?

"Don’t deny it mother. I know it’s you!"

"If you say so. Tell me why did you come here? Was it to meet me?"

"You know it was, and that was also why you came too. I wanted to say thank you."

"Thank you for what?"

"For giving me the chance to live. Without you I would not be here. It took me years to work out how I was cured, but eventually I did it. ‘Cold boot’ huh. Primitive nowadays but effective all the same. Thanks to you I would have never known the love of a good man and the joy of having children of my own."

"It’s not me you should be thanking, it’s them," the old woman nodded towards the gravestones.

"One thing they never realized was that without you there would be no them."

"True love will always find a way. I once believed that all love was unrequited, but I now see that was a mistake. I have known what it is to love and to be loved, and as I near the end of my life I see that as my greatest achievement. Forget about saving oceans. That was nothing compared to what Mark and I shared for so many years. I am so proud of you. I watched you grow up, have your own children, and then become a grandmother yourself. There wasn’t a day that went past when I didn’t thank God for you, or pray for your happiness," the old woman’s voice tailed off, lost in a myriad of memories.

"It was you who came to visit us, just before my wedding wasn’t it? Of course you were Dr Anne Baxter then but I knew. Kat did too. She never said anything to anybody but looking back on it I see now that she knew it was you. You came to say goodbye didn’t you?"

The old woman’s face dropped and a certain sparkle slowly faded from her eyes, "Listen. I have so little time left. I can feel my body slowly breaking down almost by the day. I’m paying the price for stopping the Guild in the way I did so many years ago. Cathline-Jane over there doesn’t know it but soon Great Great Grandma Elizabeth Anne will be gone and that will be that. I want to spend the few weeks remaining to me with my family. Tell me what are your intentions?"

"I want to be there. I want to be there at the end. I know Mom and Dad would want to be there if they could."

The old woman gave a smile, leant in towards the figure and whispered in her ear. The lady nodded in agreement and whispered back "I promise."

o—o—o—

 

 

Three weeks later

"I’m not too late am I?" the woman said breathlessly.

A nurse, looking tired and fatigued as though she had been waiting up all night shook her head, "She stopped me from going, she forbade me to leave until you came."

"How is she?"

"I’m amazed she’s hung on this long. I’ll say one thing for her, she’s a survivor. I wanted to give her some help by putting her on bio-support, but she refused. You’d better go in, there’s not much time." The nurse gestured for the woman to follow her.

"I knew you’d come," the woman in the bed rasped. She was a pale imitation of the woman at the graveside a few weeks a go. Her hair had thinned and her skin was a gray deathly pallor. Some other people who Elizabeth assumed was her family stood around the bed. An elderly woman looked at Elizabeth and mouthed "Sister," by her side was an older looking man. He turned to Elizabeth, smiled and mouthed, "Brother."

Elizabeth held the old lady’s hand to her lips and kissed it, "Goodbye mother" she whispered softly. The old woman smiled back and Elizabeth felt the hand go limp, and then realizing what had happened started to sob softly. Her younger brother and sister moved in to comfort each other and the first moment of emotion they had ever shared was that of grief.

After one hundred and forty years of life Dr Elizabeth Anne Bexley was gone.

Elizabeth lovingly rested Dr Bexley’s hand back on her body and turned to leave. She took one look back at her peaceful face and gave a smile, this time there would be no faked suicides, visits for a wedding or narrow escapes. She thought of the little girl playing in the graveyard, of the memories of her own family growing, playing and finally leaving to lead their own lives. Her mother had been right. It had been worth it, even in the times of pain and struggle true love knows no limitations or barriers. It always prevails and knows no boundaries.

o—o—o—

 

Two weeks later.

Elizabeth stood by the quayside and watched Dr Bexley’s family carry a lit torch to a large wooden boat. Her body had been loaded up onto the deck of the boat and wrapped down onto an ornate table. Flowers from all over world littered the deck, forming a floral carpet that seemed to shine with every color imaginable. A band and choir stood ready; as Dr Bexley’s son and daughter, Elizabeth’s brother and sister walked towards the boat each carrying a wooden road wrapping in cloth. The man took out a small lighter and lit the torch. He waited for a few moments before throwing the burning torch onto the deck. The woman passed her torch to him and he lit it for her and passed it back again. She threw it with all her might and it landed on the stern of the boat. As they slowly started to walk away the band started to play one of Dr Bexley’s favorite hymns.

"Before the throne of God above

I have a strong and perfect plea

A great high priest who’s name is love

Who ever lives and pleads for me

My name is graven on his hands

My name is written on his heart

I know that while in heaven he stands

No tongue can bid me thence depart

No tongue can bid me thence depart"

She felt a squeeze on her hand as Alex sought to give her comfort. Over the years Alex had been a source of strength, comfort and love. He’d been an ideal father to her two children, and now just having him there, holding her hand made her feel safe and secure. She closed her eyes and listened to the choir sing the refrain.

"My name is graven on his hands

My name is written on his heart

I know that while in heaven he stands

No tongue can bid me thence depart

No tongue can bid me thence depart"

The burning boat was gently pushed away from the quayside using large wooden poles. Underneath the boat small electric motors ensured the boat wouldn’t float back into shore and so the boat gradually powered it’s self away. Elizabeth saw the flames start to lick up the mast and around the table. Smoke began to billow out as the fire caught hold.

"When Satan tempts me to despair,

And tells me of the guilt within,

Upward I look and see him there

Who made an end to all my sin

Because the sinless savior died

My sinful soul is counted free;

For God the just is satisfied

To look on him and pardon me

To look on him and pardon me"

The fire had really taken hold, and now the flames masked the table and nearly the whole deck of the boat. Smoke now consumed the sky surrounding the boat. It surely wouldn’t be too long before the whole deck was burned thru.

"Behold him there! The risen Lamb

My perfect spotless righteousness

The great unchangeable I AM

The king of glory and of grace!

One with himself I cannot die

My soul is purchased with his blood

My life is hid with Christ on high

With Christ, my savior and my God

With Christ, my savior and my God"

The boat was now almost all in flames and Elizabeth knew it was only a matter of time before the fire burnt it’s way into the hold of the boat and it started to sink. By that time the small boat would be far out to sea, taking with it the body of an exceptional woman, her namesake, her soul mate and her mother. It was so fitting that her final resting place would be the ocean which she had done so much to save. She closed her eyes and listened to the last refrain of the hymn.

"One with himself I cannot die

My soul is purchased with his blood

My life is hid with Christ on high

With Christ, my savior and my God

With Christ, my savior and my God"

Deep down she knew she would see Dr Bexley again and the words of the hymn filled her with hope. The words reminded her that there was always hope, always love and always forgiveness, even for people like her. It was, she decided, as good a lesson to learn as any. Kat, Cathline, and Matthew would have been proud of her. Elizabeth gave Alex’s hand another squeeze and snuggled close to him. She felt him draw her closer and together they watched as the boat, still burning fiercely, drifted off into the distance.

END

 

 

Music And Voice Tracks

Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec Nobuo Uematsu

Epilogue From Z’hadum Andreas Katsulas(G’kar)

The Outside Cheryl Crow

Beauty Dies Young Lowgold

Fountain of Sighs GT Interactive(Unreal Tournament)

The Queen Of Hollywood The Corrs

The last Domino Genesis

I want to know what love is Foriegner

Incubus Marillion

I don’t wanna fall in love Chris Isaak

Porcelin Moby

Empty Rooms Gary Moore

Before The Throne Of God. Charitie L Bancroft 1841-1892

Now we are free Hans Zimmer & Lisa Gerrard

 

 

 

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